Anyone for some relaxing fishing?

[LakeArenal]

Two Florida anglers have landed a Warsaw grouper so enormous that it required the strength of an entire crew to hoist the fish over the rail.

“It was a monster! One of the largest ever caught,” Joshua Jorgensen, owner of BlacktipH Fishing, exclaimed in a news release issued Wednesday. “The fish floated to the surface and we all started screaming. We didn’t realize how difficult it would be to bring this fish in the boat.

“It took four grown men to lift this fish over the gunnels.”

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/02/anglers-land-enormous-warsaw-grouper-after-three-year-quest

PS I didn’t catch this fish. I don’t know them. It is just a marvel of nature that I thought people would like to see.
I don’t know what permits they may or may not had to catch this fish....

[Ohiogal]

1. Look at the spines on that thing! Yikes!

[LakeArenal]

2. Yikes is right. Monsters of the Deep.

[Boxerfan]

3. Those are typically a protected species-Very sad.

That one was probably 100 years old or better. With dwindling resources it takes a special kind of asshole to do this. I have retired all my sturgeon gear and sport fishing is a memory.

[Botany]

4. They should have let it go.

That fish was worth more in the ocean then on somebody's wall.

[demmiblue]

5. +1

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Hopefully, they did, right after the picture was taken.

I'd bet there's a big fine if someone saw it in the boat, or later, mounted on a wall.

I'm not sure about doing taxidermy, most groupers are not very picturesque (in my opinion. Their mothers would disagree).

[Botany]

8. No they took it back to shore with them. click on the link

That fish had to be > 50 years old. I once caught a 25 LBS Northern Pike in Ontario and i
figured that fish would do more good back in the lake then on my wall.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. Ok, I thought the fish was endangered. I guess the take was legal.

Hopefully, the local fish & wildlife officials know what they're doing. I remember a grouper sandwich, back in the '70s, it was excellent.

[onethatcares]

6. jerks

from near weightless to having the atmosphere crushing it's innards as it "floated to the surface". Well hell, it had the bends, what did they expect?.

and they did what with it? It was probably full of worms,

I'm not impressed at all.