Outdoors Column | 2020 had its share of news. Few were bigger than these big fish stories

When 2020 started, it seemed fairly normal for those who isolate in salty air. The big news were the big fish that were coming back, setting the tone for a fishy year.

In January, Captain Jason Boyll had one of his lifetime best catches go viral because of the shear size.

“CNN, Inside Edition, UK Daily mail. There’s been a lot of interest and that’s pretty cool,” Boyl said, noting the fish story eventually was reported in over 80 countries.

The fish, a 350-pound warsaw grouper, came from 600 feet deep off the southwest Florida coast. Regularly fishing out to 200 miles, Boyll has always had the goal of catching a world record sized fish.

“I want to break the record,” he said. referring to a 436-pound warsaw. “It’s a fish that we have in our backyard that’s exceptional. They get bigger here than anywhere.”

No doubt Boyll will be out back again in 2021 looking to get an even bigger one.

As 2020 carried on, good weather in May allowed anglers to scout deeper waters. Justin Moraine, an extreme diver, wanted to find new spots for upcoming tournaments. When he came across a big show of fish on his bottom finder in 198 feet, he put on his scuba gear and headed down.

“As I dropped down a big carbo (black grouper) swam up to me and then swam off,” Morraine said. “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.”

Morraine explored further, finding a ledge that the big grouper was hiding in. He lined up his shot, rolling the big fish

“I knew it was big, but didn’t think it was going to be that big. I didn’t waste my time and headed up.”

That big carbo weighed a whopping 103 pounds. That was the first 100-pound grouper of his life.

In June red snapper began, but it was big pelagic fish that made news.

Capt. Jason Stock always had his eye on catching those big pelagics, specifically wahoo, and made it happen.

“That’s been my summer goal,” he said at the time. “It seems like there’s a lot of big wahoo out there.”

When Stock started fishing on a wreck 50 miles offshore it didn’t take long for the striped predator to show up. Their first bait was cut off, and Stock re-rigged a wire leader to stand up to the teeth. He tossed out a threadfin which was eaten immediately, starting a chase as line peeled off the 20000 Saragossa spinning reel.

“I stayed on the big motors and chased it like a tarpon. It was peeling line. I think if we were sitting on anchor it would have been spooled, those runs were real.”

The wahoo took them nearly a quarter mile from where they hooked it up. It was gaffed and swung into the boat, not fitting in the fish box. At the dock, it weighed a massive 80-pounds!

“That was the fish of a lifetime,” Stock said.

2020 had plenty of issues, but for many anglers it lead to catching the fish of a lifetime.