Outdoors Column | Diving deep into the Gulf of Mexico for a chance to spear a giant fish
On a calm May afternoon 115 miles offshore and 198 feet below the surface, Justin Moraine found himself face to face with a large black grouper.
“We were out scouting some new areas in the southern Gulf looking to find big black grouper for upcoming tournaments,” Moraine said. “Running between spots we saw a huge show and marked it. 265-feet from the main show we marked another so I decided to go down and scout it.”
As an extreme diver Moraine has come in contact with plenty of large fish in the Gulf of Mexico. He’s familiar with what it takes to find and capture big black (carbo) grouper, snapper and amberjack. All the signs he looks for on his depth finder lined up. Plenty of bait with beeliners and spot-tails, hard bottom and an area known for big grouper in the deep Gulf.
“I went down on the second spot and my buddy Peter Hamburg went down on the main spot. As I dropped down a big carbo swam up to me and then swam off. I could see a spot that looked like a tiny crack and I thought there was no way that fish was living in there,” Moraine recalled.
“I took my eyes off the carbo and when I looked back he was gone. The visibility was amazing so I could see pretty far. When I got closer to the spot it looked small so I figured that fish couldn’t even fit into it.”
As he looked into the ledge there were invasive lionfish patrolling their edge. A small hole in the spot showcased the big head and eyeballs of the black grouper Moraine was stalking. Unaware of just how big it was, he loaded his speargun and took his shot into the fishes head, stoning it dead.
“I stoned him and rolled him. I knew it was big but didn’t think it was going to be that big. I didn’t waste any time and headed up. On my ascent I noticed a goliath and another big carbo moved into the spot. I got to the surface only 7-minutes after getting out of the boat.”
At the surface Moraine realized the size of the fish. It measured a whopping 58.5 inches and 103 pounds! It was the first 100-pound black grouper for Moraine, who hopes to top that mark in August.
“The second fish I saw was also a tournament fish. The St. Pete Open is still on for Aug. 15 and that’s when we want to get another big one.”