Crew elated as 400-pound Warsaw grouper shatters tournament record in Sarasota Slam

More than 35 years ago, the world record 436-pound 12-ounce Warsaw grouper was brought back to port in Destin, Florida. In the years since, few fish have come close to beating the record, but captains like Nick Froelich believe bigger ones are in the Gulf of Mexico.

“There are absolutely bigger Warsaw grouper out there. There’s some that have to be absolutely crazy, 600 pounds or more,” Froelich said.

“I think we’ve hooked them that big but at that size there’s not much you can do. It would take everything going perfectly to get that fish. And now with better tackle, faster boats, more fuel, better electronics … I think that fish will be caught soon.”

Froelich and team Double Nickel went off in search of a true monster from the Gulf during the Sarasota Slam from Marina Jack’s. When boats pushed off Thursday afternoon on Aug. 5, storms lined the coast and west winds had Gulf seas between 3 and 5 feet. Staying safe Froelich turned his 40-foot Catamaran south in the intercoastal, heading down to Sanibel before heading west.

“From there we went 160 miles. The first night we went swordfishing but not much was happening, it was slow and we caught none,” Froelich recalled. “In the morning we went to 660 feet to fish some big structure.”

Dropping down a giant 16/0 hook, 1 to 2 pounds of lead on an Accurate 50-wide with 200-pound test line and 300-pound leader and a custom rod, it didn’t take long for the big bonita to be eaten.

But the first fish won the battle, breaking them off on structure.

They readied another, and came tight again when it reached 660 feet below.

“Right when the bait hit the bottom it was eaten. Joe Scaraville was on the rod and played a lot of drag at the beginning. We had to pull that fish off the structure and once it was off we could back off the drag a bit. As soon as it was hooked we knew it was a big fish.”

Scaraville remained in a tug of war for nearly an hour. He’d take 10 feet and lose 15 at times but the crew felt more confident with it being away from the structure. When it was 60 feet below, pressure filled the Warsaw grouper and floated it to the surface. The crew saw the giant and excitement filled them all.

“We knew it was big, but didn’t think it was that big. It took all seven of us to get it over the gunnel. We had gaffs and ropes all over. The boat was listing at the weight of the fish as well. When it finally hit the deck we couldn’t believe it.”

Froelich took measurements and texted them in via Garmin InReach. At 88-inches long and 74-inches wide, estimates back had the fish between 390- and 440-pounds.

Saturday the Double Nickel crew were the first back to weigh in dock, but took their turn before going up to the scale.

“We saw the other big fish and knew ours was bigger, so we wanted to give everyone out there a chance to see it. It’s a lifetime fish so we took our time,” Froelich said.

The other big Warsaw was caught by Capt. Tim Noe and the Knot Waste. At 320 pounds, it broke the previous tournament record.

But that record didn’t last long, as behind them Froelich and team Double Nickel put the weigh-in equipment to the test. When the scale settled, it showed a massive 400-pounds.

The new tournament record would bring home first place for the biggest Warsaw to go with a 14.6-pound snapper Double Nickel weighed in to take the snapper division as well.

While it may have been short of the world record, the new tournament record is one that could take a while to beat.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 1:14 PM.