# Goliath grouper in Boca Grande



## Madsnooker (Jul 19, 2011)

Dave(Bandersnatch) and his boy Hunter and my two boys CJ and Zachariah and I went down to Boca this past weekend and caught some Goliath Grouper up to 100Ibs. We caught 13 total. We hooked some much bigger but lost those battles

Anyway, thought ya'll might like to see the pics.


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## Jasper (Jul 19, 2011)

Wow, very cool. AWESOME pics! Great job getting those young men out there...........


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## Jim Thompson (Jul 19, 2011)

very cool snook!


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## Madsnooker (Jul 19, 2011)

Jim Thompson said:


> very cool snook!



Thanks

I like your avatar. Were you drunk during that sit or what?


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## atwdmb (Jul 19, 2011)

caught in shallow water?

atw


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## Dustin Pate (Jul 19, 2011)

Great fish! Do any tarpon fishing?


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## smessler34 (Jul 19, 2011)

awsome fish!! funny thing is its a juvenille...ive seen goliaths that could eat that one on dives! man that one sure would be good as a pile of fried fish on you plate!!


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## nkbigdog (Jul 19, 2011)

50 yrs ago we used 5lb silver head snapper to catch them. Congrats!


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## Swamprat (Jul 19, 2011)

Wish the state would open a limited season on em....the ones that size are more of a pest than anything else swimming. 

Looks like a lot of fun....seen vids of folks in the same area fishing at night dragging in 150-250 pounders and losing some that were probably pushing 3-400 pounds.


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## Madsnooker (Jul 20, 2011)

smessler34 said:


> awsome fish!! funny thing is its a juvenille...ive seen goliaths that could eat that one on dives! man that one sure would be good as a pile of fried fish on you plate!!



Actually we were after the big ones. We caught one last year at the same spot that was 5 feet long and based on the formula would have wieghed between 400-500 pounds. I will try and post a pic of it. We believe we hooked some like that this trip but we got spanked and have no idea how big they were.


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## Madsnooker (Jul 20, 2011)

Dustin Pate said:


> Great fish! Do any tarpon fishing?



Yes, we tried on this trip as well but most of them have moved out. It was the Hill tide but there were no crabs flushing, well, very few anyway. Our original plan we we went down was to catch goliaths on the incomming and then change over to the poons on the hill tide. Half the plan came together.


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## letliloneswalk (Jul 21, 2011)

nice fish for antone who have not caught one  let me tell you they fight HARD and PULL more than a 2500 diesel  LOL

I have been blessed to land 2 myself one last year and another this year pushing the 220#lb mark

you need a strong back and heavey gear  we call them snapper thieves

thanks for sharing and GOD Bless 

GEN 1:26-29   says it all !


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## m1garand30064 (Jul 21, 2011)

atwdmb said:


> caught in shallow water?
> 
> atw



This.

Where did you catch these guys?


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## trkyhntr70 (Jul 21, 2011)

Thats an awesome fish; I would love to catch one!


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## swamp hunter (Jul 21, 2011)

Good Job !!. We got a 75 lber Yesterday at 15 Miles off ,on a sunken Shrimp Boat. Well , I,dnt a 14 Year old Young Fella did all the Work. I just Yelled Git Him up Son , Pull , Pull !!.


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## 3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI (Jul 21, 2011)

Are they good eaten?


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## Madsnooker (Jul 27, 2011)

m1garand30064 said:


> This.
> 
> Where did you catch these guys?



In Boca Grande pass(tarpon capitol of the world). There is an old phosphate dock just off the shore at the pass where they loaded phosphate 50yrs ago onto ships. They cut the dock off about 4 feet above the surface and sank all the timbers all around the remaining pilings. There are also huge cement bumpers next to the old dock. The water is 40-50' deep all around the structure. Its loaded with Goliaths up to as big as they grow.


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## Madsnooker (Jul 27, 2011)

3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI said:


> Are they good eaten?



I imagine they taste like any grouper would. Since they are illigal to harvest, I have no idea really.


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## Bryannecker (Jul 27, 2011)

3.5 YR-OLD BAMBI said:


> Are they good eaten?



They are grouper and could be eaten in the far distant past when they were Jew fish.  But since being renamed goliath fish they cannot be removed from the water for any reason.  The feds say that their extreme body weight is such that only the water will support it.  Internal injury will occur if they are removed from the water is what they base this regulation on to protect them.  Strict adherence to the letter of the law is the catch word.  Ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating it.  All men are deemed to know the law, so if you do not know it carry a lawyer with you, or go to law school just as I did.  
Now, do not let this make you paranoid as it did me by having done that three years of intense study.  

Oh, by the by, those are great photos of a great fishing adventure!  Thanks for sharing! 

Capt. Jimmy


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## Madsnooker (Jul 27, 2011)

Bryannecker said:


> They are grouper and could be eaten in the far distant past when they were Jew fish.  But since being renamed goliath fish they cannot be removed from the water for any reason.  The feds say that their extreme body weight is such that only the water will support it.  Internal injury will occur if they are removed from the water is what they base this regulation on to protect them.  Strict adherence to the letter of the law is the catch word.  Ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating it.  All men are deemed to know the law, so if you do not know it carry a lawyer with you, or go to law school just as I did.
> Now, do not let this make you paranoid as it did me by having done that three years of intense study.
> 
> Oh, by the by, those are great photos of a great fishing adventure!  Thanks for sharing!
> ...



For those that might have been wondering, thats why all the pics were in the water with the fish. Not once did the fish leave the water.


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## m1garand30064 (Jul 27, 2011)

Madsnooker said:


> In Boca Grande pass(tarpon capitol of the world). There is an old phosphate dock just off the shore at the pass where they loaded phosphate 50yrs ago onto ships. They cut the dock off about 4 feet above the surface and sank all the timbers all around the remaining pilings. There are also huge cement bumpers next to the old dock. The water is 40-50' deep all around the structure. Its loaded with Goliaths up to as big as they grow.



That is incredible that you can catch them so close to shore.  Thanks for sharing!


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## How2fish (Jul 27, 2011)

I t won't be long before divers start disappearing in those waters a good friend of mine used to dive those docks but quit due to the number of fish that "charged" him. Another friend caught one in the early 70's that was 600lbs ..I'm told they are taking over some wrecks in the Keys..heck they can eat just about anything swimming not named Orca..Congrats those are some great pic's !


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## dmclain1 (Jul 29, 2011)

We were talking to a warden in key west last year and he said that they wanted to open it but couldn't because it would be impossible  to regulate, he said its a lot easier to say you can't keep them at all than have a quota or such because people won't take the risk of being seen, if it were to open up people would be a little more bold. By the way we saw more goliaths last year than red and gags combined and I spearfish a lot of wrecks they eat everything.


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## dmclain1 (Jul 29, 2011)

By the way awesome pics!!!!! Those are a blast to catch! I can't wait to get back down there


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## Miguel Cervantes (Jul 29, 2011)

WOW!!! That looked like a blast!!! Great job guys


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