Anchor retrieval with jewfish

[slvrlng]

Saw this over on ecpff.com. This is about 12 miles south of Panama City. Somebody got their anchor hung and got one of the kayak guys on the forum that dives to go out and retrieve it.
This was filmed on saturday. They went back for a second dive and there was another jewfish that had run off the two smaller ones. He estimated it at 1000 lbs. He said it wouldn't fit through any of the doors of the tug and could only go through the deck hatches. He said its the biggest one he has ever seen. Of course he didn't take the camera back on the second dive as the main thing was to get the anchor, but he knows what he's talking about and I for one believe him!
Heck the little ones are about 200 lbs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJMbryGbn3Y

[John Jones]

SW FL is overrun with them.  You can hardly get a game fish off the bottom anymore in some areas without them stealing it before you get it up.  One of my snapper holes is a wreck in about 45' of water. It has a resident goliath I would guess 450#.  His mouth is the size of a trash can.  I have targeted it several times.  Diawa 600 reel with 200# braid.  Roller guide rod rated for 120# line, 400# leader and 12/0 tuna hook.  Live legal size grouper or snapper for bait.  So far he has kicked my azz every time.  You can tease him right to the surface but if he gets hold of the hook he just casually does a u-turn and goes back to the wreck and cuts you off.  Once I used pliers to tighten the star drag.  I nearly went swimming that day.  I had the rod on the gunwale and was laying on it to try and hold on.    I was just about to let him have the rod when the line broke.  We quit fishing that spot a couple of years back because he takes all of your fish and busts tackle.  It is fun to take a bass fisherman out there and let them hook up with him.  Most are speechless other than "Holy ShlT".

[gran398]

Good video. Those guys know their biz.

Saw Roland go goliath grouper fishing on TV.  Of course he had all high-dollar gear known to man. Locked it down, and drug it off the wreck, with 400 lb. Spectra. Or so it appeared in the video. Next scene, they're high-fivin'.....poor ol' gal is layin' there, huffin' and puffin'....after about fifteen or thirty minutes, they clean-release her, to fight another day.

 

 

[Capt. Offshore]

John Jones
"I have targeted it several times. Diawa 600 reel with 200# braid. Roller guide rod rated for 120# line, 400# leader and 12/0 tuna hook. Live legal size grouper or snapper for bait. So far he has kicked my azz every time."

I am a charter capt. and from time to time I'll get guys on board who think they are "all that" and want to do battle with a GG, so I'll hook'm up.  This is something you should try John - I will take three rods and tie them all to one leader (GG/shark rig) then hook on a amberjack and send it down.  I tell the "Lucky Fishermen" that they must work like pistons in a motor and in-sinc with each other to bring this thing to the top ! ! !  They laugh thinking there is no way a fish can whoop all three of them . . . . . . . . until it eats the bait ! ! !  LOL  I use 80# tackle for grouper/snapper fishing, so with three 80# rigs hooked up to the GG it makes for some sport.  Try it sometime . . . . . it's a blast.