{"id":2579,"date":"2024-07-11T14:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T14:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2024-07-11T14:11:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T14:11:02","slug":"huge-snapper-eating-amberjack-breaks-south-carolina-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/?p=2579","title":{"rendered":"Huge Snapper-Eating Amberjack Breaks South Carolina Record"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Fishing buddies Jim Carroll and Gordon Jobe left South Carolina\u2019s Murrells Inlet around dawn on May 23 to chase dolphin and wahoo offshore. They were aboard Jobe\u2019s 32-foot Edgewater boat, Liberty Call<\/em>, and after a slow morning of trolling, they decided to move spots and change tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trolled a weed line for dolphin and wahoo about 60 miles offshore for a while without success,\u201d Carroll tells Outdoor Life<\/em>. \u201cThen we decided to run inshore to 100 feet of water and do some bottom fishing. It\u2019s a spot we located last year that\u2019s just a flat area without any kind of bottom structure. But it always produces snapper, triggerfish, sea bass and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anglers got to work right away using two-hook chicken rigs<\/a> baited with squid strips. They were putting plenty of fish in the boat, but as they fished, one of them would occasionally hook a snapper or trigger, and then something bigger would hit, and they\u2019d lose it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t figure out what was taking our fish,\u201d said Carroll, age 52, who lives in Myrtle Beach. \u201cBut about noon I hooked a snapper or something, and wham,<\/em> a huge fish took my bottom fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carroll (left) and Jobe stand next to the amberjack after getting it weighed at a seafood market. <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Jim Carroll<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a giant amberjack, and Carroll says he\u2019s sure it ate a smaller snapper off his line and hooked itself. He fought the brute using a 7-foot stout rod and a Penn Fathom 40 reel loaded with 80-pound braided line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was brutal. Really a tough, long fight,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve caught amberjacks up to 80 pounds. But this fish was different \u2014 much stronger and larger than anything I\u2019ve tangled with before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Next:<\/strong> Shark Eats What Could Have Been the New World-Record Red Snapper<\/a><\/p>\n

After battling the amberjack for nearly an hour in deep water, the anglers decided to put their boat in gear to bring the fish closer to the surface. It\u2019s a deep-water tactic that tuna and billfish anglers use regularly. And it worked for the South Carolina duo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere really was no reason that beast of a fish ever should have made it up to our boat, but it did,\u201d says Carroll. \u201cI got it boat side after it planed up to the surface, and Gordon gaffed it. He pulled it high up the gunnel, and I hit it with another gaff, and we both hauled it aboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Angler
A tired Jobe, who captained the boat that day, lies next to the amberjack after gaffing it. <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Jim Carroll<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carroll and Jobe knew right away that the fish was a state-record contender. They were still a ways offshore and out of cell phone range, so the two anglers used their inReach to contact a friend, who let them know the current South Carolina record was 123 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat fish was almost as long as me,\u201d Caroll says of the 72.24-inch-long amberjack. \u201cThe thing was huge. The fish didn\u2019t struggle much at the boat. It was worn out, and me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anglers kept fishing, catching some more bottom fish and smaller amberjacks. Then they headed back to Murrells Inlet and docked their boat around 4 p.m. From there, the two anglers took the amberjack to a local tackle shop, but the fish was too big for their scale to handle. So, they went on to Seven Seas Seafood Market, where the amberjack registered 129 pounds on a certified scale.<\/p>\n

\"A
Fish processors found a fresh vermillion snapper and two skates in the huge amberjack\u2019s belly. <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Jim Carroll<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That certified weight was later verified by Kris Reynolds with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and the agency made Carroll\u2019s state record official on June 29. The previous record had only been on the books for eight months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat amberjack was eating pretty good at that spot before I caught it,\u201d Carroll says. \u201cThe loin fillets of that fish were as large as beef ribeye steaks. When they cleaned it [at Seven Seas] they found a 12-inch vermillion snapper in its stomach and a pair of skates, which are like stingrays.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Fishing buddies Jim Carroll and Gordon Jobe left South Carolina\u2019s Murrells Inlet around dawn on May 23 to chase dolphin and wahoo offshore. They were aboard Jobe\u2019s 32-foot Edgewater boat, Liberty Call, and after a slow morning of trolling, they decided to move spots and change tactics. \u201cWe trolled a weed line for dolphin and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gun-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}