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Date Caught: 7/17/03
Location: St George Island
State: Florida
Fish: Jewfish
Photo Description
The photo is of a Goliath Grouper (Jew Fish) that was caught on 7/17/03 off the coast of Saint George Island in the Florida panhandle. The fish was caught around 2:00 PM approximately 26 miles offshore at the Air Force "S" tower in 110 feet of water. The fish was caught on a dead pin fish bait with a Penn 4/0 reel with 80 pound test and a Penn rod. There were four people on the fishing trip. Mike Dunlap (Boat owner), David Dunlap, Scott McWay and Tracy Lewis. Scott originally hooked the fish and he fought it aggressively for about 1/2 hour. Every time he would get it up off the bottom, the fish would run back down into structure. After 1/2 hour doing this, he tired and handed the pole to David Dunlap. Having more experience with landing big fish, I got the fish turned and fought it all the way up. This took over a 1/2 an hour also. By the time the fish started surfacing, I was fighting him from the front of the boat and didn't get a chance to see him coming up. I could here, "O My Gosh, that's the biggest Grouper I've ever seen." After Mike and Scott gaffed the fish at the back of the boat, I had a chance to see it. It was the biggest Grouper I had ever seen also. Our only assumption was that it had to be a Jew Fish, because it was so large. It was between 5' and 6' long and between 18" and 24" wide. It was so heavy, that Mike and Scott, who are big men, couldn't lift it over the back transom. I'm guessing that it had to be between 250 and 300 pounds. I than knew we had to than release the fish, because of the Federal Ban and it being a protected species. Luckily I had brought a camera and got a change to snap a few pictures before we had to release it. The fish floated on its belly for about 20 minutes and than flipped over and swam away. This fish was a catch of a lifetime and I thought that some of your readers might be interested in hearing about it. I can be reached at: David Dunlap 1670 Meyers Cove Drive Tarpon Springs Florida 34689 Home 727-937-7205 Work 727-530-8876 If you want hard copy pictures or any other information please give me a call or E-mail me. ddunlap@paradyne.com Thanks