Rod/reel combo for Goliath Grouper

[zward]

Hello from florida hope everyone is having a great holiday season! Just wondering if anyone has experience with gear for going after big goliath grouper(200-400lbs). We're on the gulf side around Marco Island and were out about 17 miles and stopped to tangle with some of them. Wow, hooked up twice with a TLD-20 and 6'XH rod, I had the drag locked down and thumbing as much as I could but there was no stopping that fish!

Either way after that we decided we definately need some gear more up to the task. I'm a big okuma fan as we have a bunch for great lakes salmon trolling, thinking the makaira 20 with a 50-80 or 60-130 roller guide rod? Planning on clamping down the drag all the way so more than 55lbs might be tough for just standup. A lot of guys are running 400lb main line with 400lb steel cable as a leader, any worry that you may break the rod with the reel at full drag like that? I haven't used big gear like this before so the help is much appreciated.

Thanks and happy holidays!
Zane

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

If you look at the video's on youtube they use an avet T-rex with 110 lb drag locked down. The makaira you're quoting seems too small. maybe a bigger makaira can do it.

I have no first hand experience but you need pretty heavy stuff as you need to prevent the grouper from going back to his shelter

edit: I hope you're a workout type of guy if you plan on doing this standup

[alantani]

a makaira 20 with 500 yards of 100# spectra and a 30 pound drag setting at strike.  then find a rod that will support 30 pounds of dead weight.  two 15 pound downrigger weights, or a squirilly 3 year old, should be an adequate test. 

[zward]

Are you talking about the Chew on This youtube vid's? Yeah those are pretty nuts, I'm supprised at 110lbs he didn't go over, that has to be over a 400lb*ft moment at the tip of the rod. I'm no workout junky but 24yrs old and 6'3"-200lbs and cant imagine hanging on to 4-5 times the pull of that TLD-20..he better have some water skis on.. And I think there are big boys around 500lbs that might take that. I've never messed around with drag that high, but was thinking if the fish can't be stopped with 55lbs I'll just concede defeat. Could upgrade to the Makaira 50 but would like to keep it as small as possible.

Alan are you suggesting 30lbs just as a 'safety', thats a lot of drag, but these things essentially need to be stopped in there tracks to avoid breakoff. Is 55lbs right off the get go a little much? Also I don't really have access to rods, so was probably just going to order one of the Makaira Rods to go along with it. Mainly just wondering if a 50-80 or 60-130 is the route to go. These rods will double for trolling, as even though we dont currently, once we have a couple it'll be the perfect reason to make the 100 mile run and try it!

We are headed out today for round 2, now I have the TLD 20 AND another 50lb grouper setup tied off to the same 350lb barrel swivel. Hopefully the extra rod will do the trick, that and some 275lb stainless leader line .

Thanks for the replies and happy holidays!

[SoCalAngler]

The rod selected will depend on the amount of drag you plan to fish. If it is around the 30 lbs or over which was talked about the then the lower rated rod is out of the question.

Be very careful fishing the TLD with very high drag pressure as the graphite frames will twist and break, unless you have a aftermarket metal frame on it. 

[Reinaard van der Vossen]

 I did refer to the "chew on this" video's which might be over the top. I have never fished goliath so I'm not a good indicator to go by. It is on my to do list but for a later  moment in time. I've been able to book my next blu marlin trip with a famous captain so that will take all resources for a while

I do not own a makaira (yet) so for info on the reel you're of best with Master Alan himself

[xaf]

A Penn Senator 6/0 locked down with 80-100 lb main line and 130-150 leader should be all you need.  I've seen plently of them caught on this set up.  It becomes a tug of war and it's just a matter of out lasting the fish (which a lot of people can't do).  They are usually to big to find a hole to wedge themselves in. You don't need 400lb test or steel cable unless you are fishing in shallow water where you use the boat to pull them away from piers and pileings.

[Dominick]

Hey guys, a couple of, or three questions.  How common are 200lb to 400lb Grouper?  I'm in CA but would be willing to make a trip to Florida if I had a good shot at a Grouper this large.  The second question is how old are these fish?  Third question are they good to eat when they get that big?  I have eaten Grouper before and like it very much, but it was off of 25lb fish.  Dominick

[zward]

Just an update for you guys, we got in today and had a fairly successful day fishing these giant fish. They are very old fish, and very tastey, which is part oif the reason they are still protected. After realizing how tastey they are, as good as any other grouper, just wayyy bigger, spearfisherman and sport fisherman decimated the breeding adults (70's and 80's). They were then protected and to this day cannot legally be taken out of the water. The last 10-20 years they have made a tremendous comeback and many locals and guides are pleading for a season to harvest them as many people believe they are gobbling up all of the fish on the reefs they move in on.. I will say I've caught countless of 5-10lbs goliaths in the mangrove backwaters which serve as the nursery for many fish species.

Either way to the report, I rigged up two 50-80lb roller rods, one with a Saltist 40 spooled with 50lb mono, the other a TLD20 spooled with 80lb mono. Both of these were tied to a single 350lb barrell swivel followed by 6ft of 275lb stainless cable to the hook. Bait was filleted grouper carcasses (10-20lb grouper). The first fish hit and both my dad and I grabbed the rods. He hit and ran back to the reef, burning both drags like it was nothing. He got into the reef and it was a stailmate for the next 5 minutes. Eventually he came out and we gained about 5-10ft, afterwhich he went back into the rocks just as easily as he did the first time. After about 30 seconds the cable finally had all it could take and gave way. I just about fell over backwards and my dad pretty much did a complete backflip. The cable was frayed through about 6" from the hook.

The second fish hit and this time we were able to gain ground, about 5ft at a time. We'd pull him up and he go right back down. Eventually we had enough drag to stop him on his runs, and had him to the surface 4-5 mins later. We're guessing around 200lbs but cant confirm. I have some pics that if someone would post up I can e-mail to (dont have photobucket). It was a riot and I'm thinking we'll need at least some Makaira 20's if not more. Both of these fish burned drag on the two of these reels like it was nothing, the first seemed like he was playing with us. Once they got back down to the bottom it was ga,me over.

All in all it was quite an entertaining and humbling day!
Thanks and happy holidays,
Zane

[zward]

Pescachaser, for as more specific answer to your question these are really common fish. For the average angler here we only have a couple spots to fish these giants, but most local guides have many different holes which hold numerous 200lb+ grouper. They are very old and your are not able to keep any, but many times at the spots you catch these there are plenty of snapper and other grouper species to fill the cooler.

Let me know if you need some more specifics,
Zane

[zward]

A photo of the Goliath we caught

[alantani]

zane, got any room on that boat? 

[xaf]

Here's a pic of a small one, approx 200 lb, before it was illegal to remove them from the water.

[Dominick]

zane, got any room on that boat? 

Alan:  We can go to the Miami Boat show and fish for Goliath Grouper.  Zane, any room on that boat? .  Dominick

[zward]

Hey if you're ever here around when we're down over christmas or thanksgiving, bring a case of beer and some 50 wide reels there's plenty of room! 

I'd agree thats a small one, looks around the size of what we had. The one we caught we could actually move, however the first one it never felt like we had a chance. I had one jumbo around 400-500 try to eat the 10-15lb gag grouper below as I reeled it in today. There is some crazy structure there, almost lost an ancor today...

Thinking a Makaira 20 and 50 will on the way soon