2007 FSDA State Freedive Spearfishing Championships

[Red Tide]

The Florida Skin Divers Association will be hosting The Annual State Freedive Spearfishing Championship on Friday April 13, (Good Luck) 2007 in Tarpon Springs. Go to the FSDA website at www.divefsda.com for official registration and tournament information.
This years tournament should be excellent. :thumps: The weather and water conditions are better than they have been in years. Get those registrations in early!!
Remember, this is a qualifying event (FSDA Members) for the 2007 Nationals.

[SpearMax]

Remember, this is a qualifying event for the 2007 Nationals.

:yup: We need many freedivers to participate at the FSDA event as getting to the 2007 Nationals helps determine who will represent the USA at the World Championships in 2008 in Venezuela.

See these links also:

NATIONALS 2007
http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41002

WORLDS 2008
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=41009

[kitefisherman]

How is the gumbo this year?

[Red Tide]

No gumbo yet.... I hope that it does not show up until after the tournament. The water clarity right before the gumbo comes is spectacular. It is my favorite time of the year to dive the Gulf Coast.

[KEYSKILLER]

gr:

myself and jlb are talking about this.

[Red Tide]

Brad, If you and Johnny come up for the tournament, I will hook you up with a place to stay if you need it. Give me a call for details.

[Screen Name]

I'm a bubble pack junkie. Can I enter the tournament? :D

[Ed Walker]

Rabispear and I cleared out some of the dead wood from our new team and recruited a first round draft pick from down West. Looking forward to it.

[Gamble]

I am getting a team together now and am looking forward to my first tourny.

[Ed Walker]

Jerry Guerra mentioned that he is looking to get on a team.

[RichT]

Ed,
Jerry is already on a team with Might Mouse and myself. They were looking for a third as The doctor told me I should skip this years tournament.
I believe they aquired Wayne as a replacement for me last night.

Maybe you guys will have a chance now that Im not diving. :p :D

[hogsniper]

Grand Pappy Taylor is out? It won't really feel like victory if you don't beat the godfather!

[Screen Name]

Friday April 6 is the last day for preregistration!

[Pigsafloat]

Anyone interested in shooting this thing with me ? OR Any two man teams out there who need a third ?

[Red Tide]

The weather is looking better for the tournament and the fish are thick :thumps: We have lined up some cool prizes thanks to our generous sponsors.
Daryl Wong Custom Spearguns (Thanks Daryl)
Aimrite Hawaii (Thanks Rick)
Spearfishing Magazine (Thanks Tony)
Spearfishinggear.com (Thanks Denise & Matt)
Roof Top Cafe Key West (Thanks Norman)
As of right now I know of about 15 teams that will be competing. :eek: Good Luck/Skill to all.

G.R.

[SpearMax]

Hey GR, everyone who does this tournament tells me they have a great time. I wish I had more than a 20 second breath hold. ;) :D Have a great time! Tony :cowboy:

[Ed Walker]

We have also secured a cool awards location (fish will actually be weighed at the baot ramp park nextdoor)complete with Waterfront Tiki bar, music, restrooms, ice, cleaning table, running water, and you can walk around with a beer in your hand (if you feel the need).
Every one is welcome at the weigh-in and awards presentation; tournament entrants, friends, casual observers, exotic dancers, head standing keg tappers, kayakers, people in strange masks, fisheries managers, what ever.
Locals may remember the place as Dukes Fish Camp but its now known as Anclote Village Marina. Its right next to the Anclote Public Ramp. The manager told me we can park our boats (on trailers-no dock space will be availble for tying up) over there after 5 pm.

[Gamble]

TEAM Chicken McNugget Gang will be in attendance,,,,, Ed can I borrow a head standing keg tapper :lol:

[Red Tide]

Hey Ed,
Good job on securing the location for the awards ceremony. Last year we got kicked out of the boat ramp park and threatened with icarceration. Hopfully this works out better :thumps:

[Ed Walker]

Thursday Night
South winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 feet. Bay and inland waters a light chop.
Friday
South winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 feet. Bay and inland waters a light chop.

Game on!

:thumps:

[Marcus]

If the fish aren't there
due to the amount of hair;
You may think it's funny,
But it's snot!

[Screen Name]

Don't forget the Ocean's in Action (http://www.oceansinaction.com/) donation! :notworthy

We'll have two of their latest CD's and a couple of T-shirts to add to the raffles.

[Aquaticslvrback]

pigsafloat I sent you a pm.
thanks

[Pigsafloat]

Last year we got kicked out of the boat ramp park and threatened with icarceration

GR.............have get out of jail free card........Hopefully I can make it up there to see if it still works !

Aquaticslvrback: Repied to your pm

[Red Tide]

Eric...Thanks for the offer. Hopefully nobody needs to use that card. :thumps:
Anybody that did not pre-register would be wise to go to divefsda.com and print out the forms/waivers for the tournament. Have them filled out before you get to the ramp in the morning. We will be on a tight schedule and the starting clock waits for nobody.
Get your boats in the water and raft off the other boats that will be tied up to the north dock. The captains meeting will be held there.
Good luck to everybody.

G.R.

[normanhghntr]

good luck evryone!! please dive safe , and the gift certs are in the mail!!!

[KEYSKILLER]

5...4...3...2...1... :thumps:

[SpearMax]

5...4...3...2...1... :thumps:

Rich Taylor is back on line....Maybe he will let us all know? :sleep:

[RichT]

I just got home from the FSDA 2007 Florida State Freediving championships held in Tarpon Springs.
I wasn’t able to compete this year but helped with the weigh in as best I could. I also tried to help drown the sorrows of the losers with gallons of beer. :D
From what I gathered by talking to the competitors, this years tournament was very challenging with rough seas and poor vis except out very deep.
The tournament appeared to go off with out any glitches thanks to tournament Chair G.R. Tarr(red tide) and Co-chair Ritchie Zacker(bucket one).

For the 3rd year in a row, the team of Jose Santiero, Kyle Kenyon, and Michelle Lechuga came out victorious with 258.07 points! They were captained by Brad Kenyon of Kenyon Power Boats.
Congratulations guys! That is one hell of an accomplishment! :thumps:

The second place team consisted of Chad Palan, Hank Juntunen(sp), and Sheri Daye.
They were captained by Spearfishing magazine diver of the year Dan McMahon and received 217.97 points!

Third place team consisted of David Shelton, Sammy Carlino and Charlie Moore who had 187.83 points.

Top three divers were:
1st- Chad Palan with 103.16 points
2nd- Michelle Lechuga with 90.08 points
3rd- Kyle Kenyon with 86.84 points

Largest fish overall went to Richard Daniel with a 50+ pound cobia!

I’m sure full results will be posted shortly on Divefsda.com and Iwill try to post some pictures later.

[normanhghntr]

wow 50 lb cobia thats a brut!!! congrats to all!!!!

[RichT]

nnn

[RichT]

bbb

[RichT]

jjj

[KEYSKILLER]

awsome. glad it well.
gr- red hat, red shoes, red shorts, RED TIDE. :thumps:

[RichT]

uuu

[RichT]

iii

[RichT]

vvv

[RichT]

I'll fix the sideways ones tommorow. Must get sleep. :sleep: :drunk:

[SpearMax]

I'll fix the sideways ones tommorow. Must get sleep. :sleep: :drunk:


I fixed them for you Rich. Sleep well. :sleep: :sleep:

[Red Tide]

The Top Ten Individual Scores: :thumps: :thumps:
1. Chad Palan = 103.16
2. Michelle Lechuga = 90.08
3. Kyle Kenyon = 86.84
4. Jose Santeiro = 81.15
5. Hank Juntunen = 79.91
6. G. R. Tarr = 77.62
7. Ciro Lenord = 75.54
8. David Shelton = 70.78
9. Chris Hill = 68.70
10. Charlie Moore = 64.00

[Red Tide]

The Top Ten Team Scores :thumps:
1. Pescasub (Kyle Kenyon, Jose Santiero, Michelle Lechuga) = 258.07
2. It's Gotta Hurt (Sheri Daye, Hank Juntunen, Chad Palan) = 217.97
3. Seals Dive Team (Charlie Moore, David Shelton, Sammy Carlino) = 187.83
4. Red Tide Dive Team ( Ritchie Zacker, G.R. Tarr, Sasa Bratic) = 177.23
5. Miami Freedivers = (Ciro Lenord, Sergie Lopez, Eric Salado) 158.21
6. E-Searider = (Richard Daniels, Pat Bennett, Chris Hill) 148.92
7. Running With Scisors = (Ed Walker, Blake Gaylord, Johnny Lumley) 130.36
8. Chicken McNuggets =(Jerremy Gamble, Jared McGraff, Steve Bennett)95.88
9. Oceans in Action = (Chris Gardinal, Jerry Guerra, Wayne Butts) 88.82
10. Bubblepack Junkies(John Schmidt, Scott Hooker, Howie Scarborough)76.77

[Bucket One]

Thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors that helped out. :thumps:


Boy do we know how to start off a tourney with a "BANG" though. :lol:

[HeadHunter]

It was a great time....I enjoyed it! Thanks to all those who put the hard work into making it happen. The whole process was organized and smooth!

We'd done a little late afternoon scouting on Thursday and Sheri and Hank shot a couple of fish on a spot we weren't hitting on Friday.

Sheri with a 23 Lb Gag and Hank with a 35 Lb Cobia! Wish I could have found fish like this on Tournament day! And the Thursday weather was a whole lot better than Friday's also!

[Ed Walker]

Congrats to all the winners especially the Kenyons and their Miami teammates for winning it 3 years in a row. Very impressive. Chad Palan had a really nice stringer and was pretty much assured of the indiviual prize. Nice going Chad. I heard they were diving pretty deep which is probably where those monster mangoes came from.
We had a good time and since the wind was up in the AM decided to try to eliminate our AJ requirement by trying to score a few cobia off the flats instead. I have been working on the stalk and jump technique for a while and its does produce a few fish. The problem is it can take a while to find the fish. We did get two legal cobes in there although one wasnt "tournament legal". Seeing Blake slip off the bow and chase a 40 pound cobia on foot with full gear on was pretty damn funny. Watching Johnny Longblades swim after one, shoot it then stand up to fight it was even funnier. Later offshore, Johnny got an even bigger cobe so a 20 pounder he got on the flats didnt even get weighed.
Im still mad about what would have been my highlight. At midnite the nite before the tourney I decided to made fresh bands on my 110. I didnt measure them, just eyeballed it. On my second drop of the day I see a 4 and a half foot kingfish eating the chum 15 feet below me. I eased in swam after him a little then lined up a shot.....and the damn shaft barely went anywhere. No power. A solid 35 pound king, easy shot, and I missed. Not the way to start your day.
We found good vis though and had a good time over all.
Good job by the new tourney team. We'll be back.

[Screen Name]

We were doing really well until we ran out of tanks and had to freedive. :eek: That's hard work! :D

[RabiSpear]

Ed's gun struck twice b/c I used it when my band broke and missed a 35 lb cobe. That thing didn't have enough power to push the spear out the of the gun!

I had a blast as usual. We were two big fish away from doing pretty dang well as the tourney's only single engine boat. We saw both those fish and missed them due to user error. Can't complain about that. We have a good strategy and I think it will pay off next year. Thanks to Ed for taking us out in his boat.

[HeadHunter]

I think the most interesting part of our day was when a trim tab connecting pin snapped into 3 pieces at 30k in the 4 footers we were running in. Sweeeet.......Chad got in and knocked the pieces out and got a bolt into it...back on plane and back in the game!

[Sheri]

Dan, I thought the most interesting part of our day was when I fell asleep and smacked my head...hard enough to get a Mt. Everest size bump on my forehead. That's the third time I've done that. I need to get more sleep. :sleep:

Well, a close second was when I accidentally kicked you in the unmentionables. I swear to God, it was an accident! :D

Thank you very much to all the volunteers and organizers, and a huge thank you to Dan and Ricky for treating us East Coasters like your own brothers/sisters. I sure hope you're up for "hittin' it" again next year! :thumps: