Intro

Stjepko Kesić (Cressi) won his second title in a row as Croatian National Champion. A two days championship was held in the area of half island Istra and it was organized by the Club Delfin from Pula.

Day 1

Kesić was second in day one with 16390 points, first was Sandi Perusko with 18322 points. Luka Coza (Dive In) finished third with 16213 points.

In day one 23 spearos and two women athletes were spearfishing in the west part of Istra, well known aquatorium of city of Rovinj. Kesić caught 12 fish: one seabream, seven brown meagre, three forkbeard, one mullet and one conger.

“Rovinj was my weaker zone, compering to the other one on day 2. I had spots, but went only one day for checking them. It was very a difficult zone, visibility was not good in all areas, in some parts of the zone the current was stronger then in others. Anyway, I managed to catch enough fish. During the five hours I was fishing between 10 and 30 meters“, said Stjepko Kesić.

Croatian Spearfishing Championship 2020: Stjepko Kesic day 1

Sandi Perusko, first of the day, caught five congers, two forkbeards, two wrasses, one brown meagre, one red scorpionfish and one salema.

Croatian National Championship 2020: Sandi Perusko day 1

Luka Coza, third on day 1, caught two congers, five seabreams, two forkbeards, one brown meagre, one mullet, one seabass and one black scorpionfish.

Croatian Spearfishing Championship 2020: Luka Coza day 1

Day 2

On day 2 Stjepko Kesic (Cressi) had a fantastic catch for 31207 points. Four red scorpionfish, the heaviest was 1726 grams, nine seabreams, three sharpsnout seabreams, two bandeed seabreams, one atlantic bonito, one forkbeard, one red mullet, two congers and a peacock wrasse.

Croatian Spearfishing Nationals 2020: Stjepko Kesic (Cressi) day 2

The second on day Slaven Cubric with 25469 points finished second and third was Luka Coza (Dive In) 21240 points.

Cubric caught five forkbeards, a black scorpionfish, five brown meagres, two red scorpionfish, one white seabream and a 3886 grams dentex.

The biggest surprise of the championship was Luka Coza, owner of Dive In company from Zadar, that won his first medal on a national championship.

After obtaining a great third position on day 1, he managed to repeat his result on day 2. Coza caught three mullets, four seabreams, two brown meagres, four wrasses, a seabass and a peacock wrasse.

Sandi Perusko even with “only” fourth place on day 2, had enough points to beat Coza and won the silver medal. Coza won bronze medal.

Kesic was sure of winning the title even before weighing, and his always nervous boatmen Mario Bakotić-Zile was also calm. On the second day Kesic had one more boatman, the former national team member and croatian champion from 2007, Josip Urti.

Antonio Buratovic (Dive In), vice-champion from last year, on day 2 had problems with his ear and stopped diving two hours before the end, but in the first three hours he caught a 3413 grams grouper in a zone where such species is not found often. Then he caught a dentex of 2402 grams, atlantic bonito of 1487 grams, a forkbeard, two brown meagres and a sharpsnout seabream. Beautiful fish for the fifth position on day 2.

Croatian Spearfishing Championship 2020: Antonio Buratovic (Dive In) day 2

I had bad start on day 2″, commented Stjepko Kesic. “Red scorpionfish was not on the spot, I lost one forkbeard and a seabream that I caught was too small. Then I spent 25 minutes to catch one brown meagre. So I had only three fish and a conger after one hour. But then the situation changed and one by one I managed to collect what I planned and more. I had spots with several big red scorpionfish and a big seabream. It was a full day of deep fishing beyond 25 meters and current was strong, but still it was possibile to fish. After second position on day 1, I counted that only Buratovic could beat me as he has a lot of experience in this zone. I want to thank my boatmen Mario Bakotić-Zile that is always with me and also my friend Josip Urti that helped me a lot“, said Stjepko Kesic.

Final overall standings below.

Croatian Spearfishing Championship 2020 final standings