Versus Goliath - Targeting Goliath Grouper in Florida
 

Introduction: Goliath Groupers look like gigantic bass and are some of the most voracious predators that cruise the wrecks and reefs in South Florida. These bottom dwelling titans are responsible for stealing many a fish from unsuspecting anglers whom are simply trying to get their fish back to the boat. I’ve wanted to catch one of these monsters ever since I first tangled with one of these beasts, and lost, just over two years ago.

Paul Michele of Navionics helps me try to cross off one of the fish on my bucket list... the Goliath Grouper

Goliath on the mind: I’ve had Goliath on the mind since I first hooked one of these giants fishing West Florida near Marco Island. It was back in 2016 when I was fishing with Paul Michele of Navionics and Ali Hussainy of BD Outdoors when we caught a variety of saltwater species targeting offshore wrecks and came across a school of Bonita. I landed one of these Bonita and we used it for bait on an Okuma Makaira reel that was spooled up with the light 100lb braid line, which is much too light to play tug of war with a goliath.

Step one is catching bait, in our case Bonita and to do that we used Okuma Azores saltwater spinning reels spooled with Yozuri Super Braid

Paul and Ali knew I didn’t stand a chance and before that Bonita even hit the wreck it was engulfed by a goliath and the ensuing battle lasted all of ten, maybe fifteen seconds, before the line snapped. In that short amount of time what I felt on the end of the line was a combination of sheer weight and power. It was like I was trying to haul up a bus, one that didn’t want to yield even an inch. I remember letting loose a few expletives as Ali directed me to put the rod on my knee and start winching. I barely got a few turns in before the Goliath was back in the wreck and severed the braid. The guys explained that we really didn’t have the right set up to land a Goliath, but that it was entertaining watching a bass angler like me get railed by one. It was an eye opening experience and since then catching a goliath has been on my bucket list, only the next time I would make sure that I was armed with a beefier rod and 200lb. braided line.

A common sight among many of the guide boats and even kayaks is the Cuda Tackle Center which quickly stows a variety of knives, cutters, and pliers all in a single containment unit that fits securely in a cupholder

Fast forward to this year’s media event at Pirates Cove in Stuart Florida and I would finally get my shot at redemption. Paul knew that I wanted to tangle with a goliath in the worst way so we set out with a mission. It was the two of us versus goliath. Step one was to catch the right bait, and while these monsters will eat a variety of different fish Paul’s favorite sacrificial offering is live Bonita. “Bonita is like goliath candy, they absolutely love them,” he explained.

A look under the retaining net cover reveals the quick draw system

The second that Paul turned on his Raymarine GPS unit and started scrolling through regional map views I knew I was in good hands. There were waypoints plotted all over the entire coastline. “I’ve fished this area more than a few times,” Paul laughed. “This is home water for me.” We head out of Pirates Cove and after a short six mile run we were into the Bonita, though they really wanted nothing to do with us.

An example of the jigs that we threw to catch our Bonita 

The Bonita we found were pretty spooky so the minute that we pulled up within casting distance the fish would quickly move out of range. Paul handed me a heavier jig with and we chased the fish with the boat and casted as close as we could to those fish breaking on the surface. The sight fishing worked and within the next thirty minutes we successfully landed two bonitas using this fast moving surface jig technique. It was time to make an offering to the big mouthed giants below!

Paul reels in a Bonita that would soon be an offering to the monsters down below

Goliaths are almost exclusively caught on bait, either live or dead, and while they are sometimes hooked on artificial lures they are almost always caught this way accidentally. These giants like to inhabit structure, especially wrecks where they sit in and around the sunken ships waiting for their next meal to swim by and they really are not very picky. Goliath Groupers will engulf pretty much any live bait they can get their mouths around including tuna, snapper, stingrays, jacks and even sharks.

This time I had the right setup a stout rod armed with an Okuma Makaira with 200lb Yozuri Super Braid and heavy Top Knot leader