CHARLOTTE HARBOR, Fla. – Whoa. Just one look at the rig we'd be using to fish for goliath grouper warned of the potential battle ahead.
One tipoff was the robust Penn 50W VSW 2-Speed reel, spooled with red 600-pound line that looked like it was designed more for shrubbery-shredding weed eaters. No potentially breakable knots were visible in this setup, featuring a 1,000-pound nylon leader crimped with steel and sporting a huge 20-ought Mustad circle hook at the business end.
"When that fish gets hooked up, I'm going to gun the boat backwards to get clear of the structure. The fish won't like it ... hang on to the doggone rod," ordered the captain, Chris O'Neill.
Orders may be acknowledged and understood, but carrying them out can be mission impossible. Yeah, I held onto that Shakespeare Custom 130 rod — but all that meant was that it almost went overboard with me when that pissed-off, 300-plus-pound goliath grouper made its first powerful run.
When fishing for goliaths, O'Neill tweaks the reel's drag system to fully lock down the line. Otherwise, the fish would retreat back to the thick structure they call home, resulting in a near impossible extraction mission.
With no give at all to the line, the rod tore from the holder on my unanchored stool perched on the 24-foot Skeeter's bow. The fish was now winning the leverage war.
The rod butt popped up smartly between my legs, nearly rendering me a vastly overaged Vienna choir boy. Adjacent snapper fisherman heard a few colorful exclamations and exhortations as the still-unseen sea monster had its way with me.
Kyle Frost rigs a live mullet bait.
Photo Credit: David Hawkins/courtesy
Fortunately, Kyle "Blade" Frost, O'Neill's wiry young mate, grabbed my shoulders and applied back pressure, keeping me in the boat, as O'Neill looked on with a big grin.
The scenario presented itself another couple of times, usually when the fish surged, not realizing that there were three of us topside and that our combined weight, strength, superior firepower and technology eventually would win the fight.
With the boat safely away from the long-defunct phosphate docks in Boca Grande Pass, O'Neill chipped in and multiplied our horsepower in terms of pumping the fish toward the surface, alternately raising the rod and then winding the reel a few turns on the down stroke — and illustrating why catching goliath grouper is an exercise in technique and teamwork.
Once the beast was in the top third of the shallow, 35-foot water column, it gave in and peacefully let itself be pulled alongside the boat, one pectoral flipper up and out of the water, seemingly flying its own version of a white flag. A few photos and a release of the hook later, the goliath slipped back to the depths, possibly contemplating yet another trip to the "other side" where the aliens in their odd craft captured it, inspected it and eventually let it go.
For O'Neill, a retired Army first sergeant, it was just another day at the office.
He spent his Army career in the transportation branch, a good chunk of it driving hovercraft off Fort Story, Virginia.
He was injured in Iraq in 2003 when his Humvee came under attack during an ambush and veered off a cliff.
With ensuing chronic back pain, he said he turned down promotion to sergeant major in 2005 and retired from his final position as acting installation sergeant major for Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. The Indiana native then set his sights on moving to Florida and setting up shop as a fishing guide, or, as he calls it, "living the dream."
Surgery alleviated his back problems, and his Tail Chaser Charter Services bloomed.
Teamwork rules the day on offshore goliath grouper hook-ups.
Photo Credit: Ken Perrotte
Side excursions into saltwater fishing publications followed, and today O'Neill is part of a team doing a top-rated weekly saltwater fishing radio show called Reel Saltwater Outdoors, syndicated throughout Southern Florida and heard globally via the Internet.
When it comes to successfully catching goliath grouper, few guides are as proficient as O'Neill. Our two boats caught six of the giants in one day, with no tackle breaks or malfunctions. Some of the fish we caught wore jewelry in the way of hooks in their lip or, worse, stuck further in their gullet with line trailing.
"Inferior equipment," O'Neill muttered as he carefully attempted to dislodge any hooks other than his own. Those that couldn't be easily freed were left in place, the recommended best option. Most hooks eventually rust away, but a clean hook set and removal after catch is always the preferred scenario, hence O'Neill's devotion to his gear and no break-offs.
Today, he uses circle hooks, touted as being 90 percent more likely to hook fish in the mouth rather than the esophagus or stomach.
Big bait is the ticket for catching these massive fish. As we cast-netted mullet in the 14- to 18-inch range, O'Neill explained that stingrays also make choice grouper candy. On bigger rays, he'll cut the wings and barbed tail, bait it up and drop it to the hungry groupers.
"It's irresistible," he said.
We were down to a single dead mullet in the bait well as we aimed for a final grouper.
Military Times outdoors writer Ken Perrotte, a goliath grouper and the "robust Penn 50W VSW 2-Speed reel, spooled with red 600-pound line that looked like it was designed more for shrubbery-shredding weed eaters" used to hook the 300-plus-pound beast.
Photo Credit: David Hawkins/courtesy
I fished it over a rock pile 55 feet down while David Hawkins, a former Navy fire control technician from Mississippi, fished for snapper on the opposite site of the boat. After he cranked in a chunky 18-inch mangrove snapper, I quickly brought up the dead mullet and we swapped it for the lively snapper.
Within seconds of dropping it to the bottom, a goliath grouper was eating the snack. Bump, bump went the line and then — hold on ... bam! Another "school bus," as the guides called the big grouper, was hooked up.
"We traded up — that two-pound snapper for a 250-pounder," O'Neill quipped.
As if to let us know just how strong it was, this last fish partially straightened the seemingly indestructible hook.
A cold beer — OK, two cold beers — at the dock made the perfect reward for a day of red-hot fishing near the bountiful waters of Charlotte Harbor.
Goliath grouper background
The goliath is the largest of the western North Atlantic groupers, running as heavy as 800 pounds and measuring more than eight feet in length. The Florida record is a 680-pounder caught off Fernandina Beach in 1961.
Goliath grouper are apex predators, but research shows they seem to prefer easy meals of slow-moving, bottom-associated species and fish that are easy to nab, such as live bait or other struggling fish on a line. They often sit motionless, suspended in the water, and ambush their food, swiftly opening their mouths and sucking in their snacks whole.
Catching and keeping these behemoths was standard operating procedure until populations dramatically declined over the 1970s and '80s due to increased fishing pressure. Since 1990, harvest and possession have been prohibited in both state and federal waters off Florida.
Today, unless you have a special research permit, it's illegal to bring them out of the water. The skeletal structure of the larger fish can't adequately support their weight out of water, and pulling them out usually injures them. Consequently, most photos are of a fish alongside the boat, or vertical with the upper third of its body briefly above water.
Another common practice is to carefully move the boat, with the fish alongside, over to a shallow beach and have the anglers jump in the water and pose with the fish before releasing.
Amazingly, the gentle giants don't seem to mind the photo sessions and usually tolerate humans alongside, at least up until the point when they start to fully recover from being caught.
Tail Chaser Charter Services captain Chris O'Neill, a retired Army first sergeant, gets a goliath grouper into position to remove the hook.
Photo Credit: Ken Perrotte
Our trip was in mid-July. Taking such photos then, when the Boca Grande Pass is just coming off its peak tarpon fishing season and its corresponding shark feeding frenzy, made getting into the water with the goliath a somewhat less-than-desirable proposition.
Some people believe goliath grouper populations have recovered enough to allow some form of recreational catch and keep program, but that issue is still a matter of scientific debate.
One thing appears certain: For proficient anglers like O'Neill who specialize in these big fish, the chance to hook into one is hardly a rarity.
If you go
Capt. Chris O'Neill and Tail Chaser Charter Services: www.tailchasercharters.com; www.reelsaltwateroutdoors.com; www.bocagrandetarpon.com; 941-270-7867. O'Neill offers a 20-percent discount on charters to active-duty and retired service members. He regularly has his anglers target snook, redfish, trout and other inshore species while out on a goliath expedition.
Charlotte Harbor and Punta Gorda Convention and Visitors Bureau:www.CharlotteHarborTravel.com; 1-800-652-6090. Excellent regional information, including lodging, dining and other tourist activities.
King Fisher Fleet: www.kingfisherfleet.com. Features more laid-back fishing, offshore excursions and casual Charlotte Harbor tours. Offers military discounts in May on some adventures.
Personal gear
If you book a charter, fishing tackle and bait is usually included. You'll be in the Florida sun, exposed to high ultraviolet rays, so protect your skin. I used Buff fingerless Angler 3 Gloves and a Buff UVX Mask (www.buffusa.com), which blocked 95 percent of UV rays. Most boats have a dry box, but you still should protect smartphones and camera gear with something better than ziplock freezer bags. A DryCase waterproof backpack is a good option for clothing and gear. A DiCAPac waterproof, floating smartphone case operates in a similar fashion. DryCase also makes a smartphone accessory.
