Also joined the party on sunday. left GT marina at 4am rode out in a comfortable sea, ya i know thats not right but when the sun came up figured out why. mixed up and tight sea was from the north I was riding a trailing see going south this had things a little bumpy most of the day. Opened my season at GT hole and had a dolphin in the boat at 710am. Temp was cooler than expected 69-70 so after trolling for a few more hrs headed out to find a little better, got 73 near bubble rock but no fish around. Messed around and had 4 more dolphin between sling and gaff size by noon. all coming on slight temp breaks. then had someone on the radio say the tuna were biting a little north of the hole. headed up there but guess the bite was over. around 3pm headed in to some reefs to try out some new gigging gear i had bought this winter. drifted over a lively piece of ground and immediately started grabbing big Reef donkeys. My brother caught up a monster Scamp easy over 40lbs, Sick to have to send it back down as my freezer is empty of grouper. But thanks to Courtlands lessons on jigging i don’t think it will be empty long after the opener.
Many large black see bass and several more grand battles with grouper which ended in the rocks. enough ambers to wear everyone out and we called it a day. The ocean was void of boats so i guess others are better at reading the weather reports than i. It was still great to be out and get the winter skunk off.
I’m going to guess that your weight estimation is a little off since the state record is 27 lbs. Pictures of the 40lb scamp grouper?
Skinni
My weight estimation is not off by much as i had trouble lifting it, but the species id might be off Had distinct tail with like little whips on the end.(Scamp) brownish dark color . If it wasn’t in the high 30s i’d be shocked. We didn’t wiegh it as we returned it to the water immediatly— do have a pic but not sure if its legal to take em out of the water so hestitate to post it. It swam away fine so no harm no foul. I’m not in the habit of overestimating the size of fish but i was shocked by the size of this grouper as i had never seen one this big. so maybe that fact gains me a 10lb window plus 10lbs internet weight and there you have it 20lb fish LOL. It Is what is as its still a closed season. That would be my luck tho to break a record and can’t weigh it.
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
Heck…I would LOVE to see a 30 lb Scamp!
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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 good day, I see the internet police are very active.
Local Boy, Just having fun.
No worries i’ll get the pic from my brother and let the experts take a wack at the weight. Is was actually only 28lbs is my guess :)/// I do have question for grouper experts however. I’m using 60lb braid main tied to 10ft of 80lb flouro leader to jig, couple of them came back with leader shreaded as if dragged across the reef. lost two jigs and whatever dragged it. Anybody use heavier leader or is shorter maybe the solution,Then maybe the damage will fall more on the braid.
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
It’s not illegal to post a picture of a grouper you caught. Post away…
More records are going to be broken this year.
Grouper and all the rest of what’s been closed down are now overpopulated due to the mismanagement. Scamp haven’t been declared “overfished” and are actually on the sustainable seafood list as a seafood that’s a good idea for you to buy and eat according to the SC Aquarium and all… yet we cannot harvest them for 4 months out the year.
Congrats on the scampzilla.
60lb anything is way too light to ground fish out there IMO. You will get more bites using the lighter tackle though… There’s a fine line that you can find most days on just barely heavy enough. Obviously you know that 60lb is right on that line.
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Luke 8:22-25
I use 80 lb braid on my jigging outfit, with 10’ of 150 lb flouro. I use 150 lb braid on my live bait rigs and 200 lb mono leader (a 40 lb Gag will shred this if it gets to the rocks).
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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”
Here is grouper
what kind is it and what does it weigh?
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
Phin
I was using a very light and small jigging outfit the main line never seperated but may consider a bigger leader tho thanks
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
Nice fish! That’s a scamp. I would think it’s approaching 20 lbs but ask someone like Sells or Phin that catch a lot of grouper…def not my specialty!
Pat Condon
www.ksamarineinsurance.com
(843)568-8559
That is a really nice scamp! Biggest I’ve ever caught is about 22 lbs. Looks a lot heavier because of how broad they are.
I would say that one is low to mid twenties so you are close to the state record for sure.
Ross, you reading this?!
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Luke 8:22-25
i have caught and weighed alot of fish but not many grouper they are super fat and heavey compared to most species i mess with.
mouth like a five gallon bucket heheh
“Destiny” 35ft
Contender and “Scintilla” 20ft Keywest, Manning SC
I was all excited when I brought this one to the scales thinking it was good enough for the old 25lb record a few years ago.
See what the scale says?
Sells has a pic of a 23 or 24lb one he caught in the last few years I believe. They look much heavier than they are.
Still…
that is an awesome fish. Congrats even though we cannot keep them until May 1. There are plenty more! Keep at it.
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Luke 8:22-25
Yea i hears ya Phin. Thats a great looking scamp, but when i caught my 27# he was fat fat. that fish looks like hes got the frame but not the years one em yet. My Guess is around 20#. good catch all day long.
Here is a pic of the one i caught last year (26.8#)
That’s a pretty nice scamp… A very nice accomplishment, but I would guess somewhere around 20#-24# as well. I would be curious if you could hold a 40# dumb bell at that angle for a picture though
31 pounds.
Set the trap boys, we going to pass through them again!!