Big Fish Stories – Goliath Grouper And Black Marlin

by Bridget on July 6, 2012

When talking about sport-fishing in the states or big game angling in Guatemala, black marlin are a perfect target fish. Having said that, increasingly on the coast of Florida the goliath grouper is becoming very popular. The massive grouper outweighs the black marlin and has proven to create a more intense challenge. Both these creatures provide a great experience in the realm of sport-fishing, though the goliath grouper is still intensely regulated.

Black Marlin

The black marlin is recognized as the king of all gamefish, and is particularly celebrated for offering an intense experience in terms of roughness and excitement. It’s a species that offers a fantastic performance within the realms of jumps as well as speed. The biggest black marlin are located in Australia, but they are also very popular in Guatemala and tend to be frequently featured on sportfishing charter trips. The black marlin can offer an intense battle when trying to reel one in, but the goliath grouper has turned out to be more competitive.

Goliath Grouper

As opposed to the marlin that leaps and sails through the air. The goliath grouper make use of every bit of its bodyweight and capacity to stay in the ocean. These large mouthed groupers are commonly located up and down the coast of Florida. Usually trophy groupers weigh in at about 400 pounds, but are known to reach as much as 800 lbs. The record grouper weight 680 pounds and was captured off of the coast of Florida. Groupers typically fight beneath the boat and don’t usually swim away. Because of this sport fishers must have a powerful rod which can manage very sharp bends.

Restrictions

Though there are couple of rules concerning the angling of the black and blue marlin, there are some with regards to the goliath grouper. The massive species of fish has been nearly fished to extinction and as a consequence there are actually rigid policies, these rules enforce the prompt release of goliath groupers as well as indicates that none shall be harmed. This can help protect the population. Though there has been a recent explosion of goliath groupers around the Florida coastal regions. Even if caught the species is extremely dangerous to handle inside a fishing boat and could endure internal harm.

Further Policies

Additional restrictions regarding the harvesting and angling of the goliath grouper declare that the species of fish if captured must be released right away. It may only be authorized for research measurement purposes. There is no cause of a general fishing expedition to need the measurement of a goliath grouper because absolutely no grouper of any dimension can be collected. Even taking a picture with a goliath grouper is outlawed since that does not amount to an immediate release. In cases where a picture is desired, one can be obtained in water which will result in concurrence with the restrictions. This is very important because because of the skeletal structure of the goliath grouper it can’t maintain it’s weight out of the water, this means that even when inside a boat for a short time it’s going to probably sustain internal damages. This means that the fish is not able to enter the water unharmed and is consequently regarded as ‘harvested’ which is illegal.

Even though the goliath grouper is quite a catch, it is still heavily regulated in terms of sportfishing. Because of this the blue marlin and black marlin tend to be much more popular. Perhaps in the near future as a result of surge of the goliath grouper population, sportfishing restrictions will lift permitting more sportfishing activities, until then those who enjoy a big fish tale can carry on and charter sportfishing boats and go big game sportfishing in Guatemala and various warm regions.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: