400 lb Goliath aboard the Stress Free

[Ron Jones]

Letting something like that live to fight another day says something about a person. Thank you for sharing the experience.
Ron Jones

[Newell Nut]

hey amigo Dwight, you should print a sticker of a goliath grouper 3 - 4" and put it in some special place in the boat, that fish needs to be remembered as trophy of the boat.

congrats compadre ! !

I named the waypoint in the GPS Goliath.

[Newell Nut]

Glad you let it go, thanks for the pics, did it put up much of a fight, how long did you take to get it in cheers Don.

Luckily I set the bait at about 30 feet. The drag is set at about 30 lb. Once it hooked itself it fought the rod and boat hard. It would dive with a big boast of energy and pause and then I would crank and this went on for a while and I never wear a watch anymore so no idea how long. Worked up a sweat anyway. If it had every reached the reef I never would have known what it was but I had just enough drag to stop it on each run. I would never want to deal with one with a stand up rod. Fighting with the rod in a rod holder was bad enough and I am a strong guy. When it finally got tired enough to surface Larry and I were just stunned and Holy Cow what a fish. Then I said Larry get your phone and take some pics. Never expected what surfaced. It was just really cool and exciting. Check that off the bucket list. There was once other shocker before the goliath. About an hour earlier I pulled in a big red snapper on the same rod. Unhooked it and tossed it back in. Larry leaned over the side to dip a bucket of water wash the deck and a huge cobia swam right under the bow and startled the heck out of Larry. He first thought it was a big shark. This summer has been quite a trip.

Dwight

[Brendan]

That's amazing. Nice job & congratulations.
Tight lines, Brendan.

[redsetta]

Congrats Dwight - truly a fish of a lifetime!
Agree with Swami too:

Nice to know some monsters are still around. Good to know it swam away

Thanks for sharing mate, Justin

[MarkT]

Stress Free? I bet you were feeling some stress when that rod was bent!

[Benni3]

Yes it's not easy and with 9/0 they told me I was shooting a elephant with a bb gun,,,,,, but uncle sal built it,,,,,,,

[Newell Nut]

Yes it's not easy and with 9/0 they told me I was shooting a elephant with a bb gun,,,,,, but uncle sal built it,,,,,,,

I had no issues with the reel at all. It has already been tested on a bunch of sharks but this was the ultimate test by stopping that goliath from getting down to the reef. That 9/0 is tough.

[Benni3]

Yes it's not easy and with 9/0 they told me I was shooting a elephant with a bb gun,,,,,, but uncle sal built it,,,,,,,

I had no issues with the reel at all. It has already been tested on a bunch of sharks but this was the ultimate test by stopping that goliath from getting down to the reef. That 9/0 is tough.

yes my friend it's unstopble,,,,,,, but smooth enough for anything,,,,,,,

[swill88]

Great job Dwight!
What hook did you use?
Steve

[Newell Nut]

8/0 VMC 3x Tournament Circle