Author Archives: René Potvin

About René Potvin

Started freediving and spearfishing in 1986. I competed for the first time in 1994 at the Connecticut Open. I won the B division with a bunch of togs with Murphy's beat up 90 cm Viper. I later won the North Atlantic Championships in 2003, 2009 and 2010. I participated in the FIPSA Worlds in Cabo Frio in 2006; came in 13th. I also play underwater hockey with CAMO in Montreal and do a lot of underwater photography. In 2006 I started making spearguns. They are known as Renesub Spearguns. The website is renesub.com

Ghetto style knife sharpening.

I use cheap knives. They don’t sharpen easy and I don’t usually care all that much. I mainly use them to brain fish… but then I would enjoy having a “sharpish” edge once in a while. I tried many things and found this quick solution…

Big fish story, this is not one of them.

In December 2019, while the rest of North America was swept by storm after storm in what looked like the plot of yet another end of the world movie, Baja was doing fine. Perhaps a little cooler than usual and the winds kept things interesting for kite surfers. A friend told me he kited 19… Read More »

Barrebalète à Baja! (tbar speargun, tbargun)

La barrebalète est un prototype d’arbalète propulsant une barre d’acier en forme de t. J’avais fabriqué une arbalète utilisant un tube l’année d’avant. Le tube était d’une efficacité redoutable mais je ne voyais pas comment incorporer un ardillon, et la pénétration n’était pas très grande. Les poissons étaient choqués, et il suffisait de les ramasser,… Read More »

The might of a 6 pound mackerel

I shot two mackerels while laying on the sand at about 20 meters (66 feet). I landed both by putting no resistance on my reel. When I shot the second one, to my absolute amazement, half my line was out before I got to the surface! That tiny fish had dragged a shaft that weighted… Read More »

Yellowtails, long fight, double cubera shot, and legions of contaminated foes.

Whenever I don’t have a cold it seems that every sick person feels cheated and will jump at any opportunity to swipe some of their snot on my food or face… This is no paranoia. The legions were out to get me! The lady at the bakery that coughed all over my food and used… Read More »