LOGAN – Lily Jarvis Fuller is one of a team of six Utahns headed to New Zealand representing United States for the Spearfishing World Championships.
The 23-year-old Utah State University Master’s Degree student will be leaving March 5, and returning March 23, with hopes of being on the winning team.
She is currently setting her sites on a master’s degree at Utah State University in Secondary Education.
Her husband, Trae, introduced her to the sport of spearfishing.
“I started doing it a year and half ago. Trae took me spearfishing for the first time,” Jarvis Fuller said. “I played water polo in high school and was on a rowing team after high school. I was a river guide and was familiar with a bunch of water sports and when I started spearfishing it was the next level I was looking for.”
She fell in love with the sport the first time she speared a fish.
“I pushed hard. I was at Lake Powell; we were hunting for striper and bass,” she said. “Along the way there was this big carp I speared. Carp are an invasive species, they want to get rid of them.”
The carp ended up being the biggest carp on the trip. They landed about 150 strippers.
Jarvis Fuller and her husband eat all the fish they spear. They vacuum-pack the fish then freeze it, give some to family members and eat fish throughout the year.
Her and Trae have been spearfishing in lakes all over Utah from Bear Lake to Flaming Gorge to Lake Powell. They have been to Alaska to the north and Mexico to the south going after fish.
She said she has unofficially broken three records.
“We measured and we weighed the fish I got, and we looked up the records and mine were bigger. And they broke the record,” she said. “But I didn’t know how to officially record them. We just ate them.”
Greg Hall, who assembled the team for the international competition, called and asked her if she wanted join his team.
“I went with him spearfishing at Flaming Gorge and Lake Powell,” Jarvis Fuller said. “The spearfishing community is small in Utah everyone knows everyone.”
She will represent the U.S. against teams from China, South Africa, Guam, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, Hawaii and more.
“The competition will be held at Lake Taupo, New Zealand,” she said. “We will be hunting bullhead catfish, an invasive species that has taken hold at the lake.”
Trae will also be going on the journey to the Spearfishing World Championships as an adviser to the youth spearfishing part of the team.
Between Trae and Lily going to USU, the educational costs alone are hard to manage. Then add the cost of going to New Zealand and the bills are growing.
They are looking for people and organizations who could donate to their cause or sponsor them. Interested parties can visit her website to learn more and contribute through her fundraising page.
Every donation helps cover the costs of training, travel, and international competition as she represents Team USA Spear fishing.
To follow her journey or donate to her cause, go to freshwaterlily.com.