The Helldivers' Rodeo : A Deadly, X-Treme, Scuba-Diving, Spearfishing, Adventure Amid the Off Shore Oil Platforms in the Murky Waters of the Gulf of Mexico

An account of some of the wildest, most extreme sportsmen in recent memory, The Helldivers' Rodeo introduces a group of New Orleans scuba-diving clubs that dive from off-shore oil platforms in order to spear the giant fish that congregate around these artificial barrier reefs. Armed only with spear-guns, polyester dive-suits from the disco era, and a drunken sense of invulnerability, the members of different scuba/fishing clubs get together annually to compete. The winner, at the end of the week-long contest, will have bagged the biggest (and frequently deadliest) fish. Past winners include a 138 lb. amberjack fish speared by John Hagman in 1993; a 495 lb. sand tiger shark nailed by Stan Smith in '94; and a 127 lb. yellowfin tuna skewered by David Dauzat in '98.