My name is Veronica Ostarly. I started fishing a few years ago and became addicted to inshore fishing, mostly for snook, tarpon, and red fish. Until this year, I held the IGFA world record all-tackle length record for Atlantic snook.
Fishing has become a true passion of mine and I have recently discovered the art of free diving and spear fishing with my boyfriend Scott Mijares, who has been my mentor and amazing teacher. This spring, we have been trying to shoot cobia off the bullsharks. I wasn’t sure I would be able to overcome my fear. Watching these majestic 8-foot 500-pound animals swimming is amazing while attracting the sharks to us and waiting for the right one who has a group of cobia swimming along with him. Finally the right one swims under me about 25 feet down. I swim to him, pick out the biggest cobia, and take the shot, which is a perfect shot to the spine. The fish is stunned. As I swim to the surface, the other divers keep the cobia from being stolen by the sharks until we can bring it to the boat. The whole experience is a rush like no other for a fishing addict. Having the right group of divers is key when attempting this. We all have one another’s backs. I am so glad I was able to have this life time experience that I’ll never forget.
Veronica lives on the Treasure Coast and is a resident of Stuart, Florida. Veronica’s prior world-record snook, a 107 cm specimen, was caught in 2013 while fishing the C-24 canal using a bucktail jig.
