Went out this weekend hit some bottom saw the first Tiger Grouper I have ever seen in our waters as well as another elongated silver fish with bull mahi type head but red snapper tail that i am still trying to figure out what it was.
Cobia decided to show up with a giant ray I shot one that was 50 lbs that was just above and to the left in the picture but behind and above mine was the biggest cobia i have ever seen. I mean it was a beast the 50lb cobe i shot looks like a baby in the picture and the monster was farther away. It is at the top of the pic swimming away
So you saw a 100lb cobia, a tiger grouper, and a red snapper with a mahi head all on the same dive? You sure someone didn’t use your scuba tank as a bong before you got it filled last time?
Ok so its my fault he didnt get a shot on his first dive with grouper all around him. I had a mishap with my mask and had to surface only 20 feet into my descent. I think that was the first pleasure dive he has had in a while so of course all the grouper would come right up to you when you have no spear gun. So after he came up with tales of “tiger grouper” and other unknown fish we fished till his surface time was over to go diving again. This time he held his own gun and made quick work of some small fish while I was looking for lobster. I was looking around when I see him get excited and shoot his gun at a small looking cobia next to a bunch of others the same size and one that looks twice as big. Her head was twice as wide as the others and I saw him successfully subdueing his cobia so I took a brave shot at the big one and — missed. Lucky for us because he was having a time finishing off the cobia and I came over to him bear hugging the cobe and I was able to put him on my stringer. After that fiasco we pretty much exhausted the bottom time and had to come up. I saw some 80 plus pounders this year at the Ross but never a cobia this big.
You forgot to metion me wrapped up in fishing line, shooting line and the cobia mounting me from behind " cobestyle" once i stuck my knife in his head we turned things around. I still cant figure out that the bullsnapperfilefish thing was been looking at identification charts but no luck. Maybe i was just narced from all the triggers, snapper, grouper swimming around me in 60 foot vis without a gun.
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Are you sure it was a tiger grouper?? They are normally in 800’+. I’ll bet it was a nassua grouper, one was shot here on accident a few years ago…I wonder who did that???
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Sounds like a pomp to me. I guess we should ask aproximate size/weight. Are you familiar with pompano? If you say 2 lbs I’m going with look down fish. If you say 35-50 I’m going with pompano.
No it wasnt either i know pompano and lookdowns… fish was probably 10 lbs.I am guessing was some sort of deepwater fish species that was in shallow for some reason or another.
The grouper was not a nassau. Regardless The go pro was sitting in the boat so we will never have a confirmation.
Although unlikely it could have very well been a tiger grouper…two were confirmed to be caught out of Murrel’s Inlet a awhile back in around 100ft of water. Early larval phases in fish puts them at the mercy of currents…they can end up in some strange places every now and again.
10 lbs points me toward permit. I shot one about four years ago in 120 fsw. Believe it or not, they are here, mostly on offshore wrecks, but you’ll see them every blue moon over live bottom. Usually alone and or mixed in with other Jacks. I’ve personally never seen anything other than individuals. (no groups or schools).
