Fishing for the WORLD'S BIGGEST GROUPER

**Fishing for the WORLD'S BIGGEST GROUPER**
Instagram @JoeyAntonelli
Official Merchandise of this channel - www.jantogear.com
I frequently target the smaller Goliath Grouper for research purposes, but after losing several large Snook and Redfish to a bigger one I decided it was time to hook a true giant. I work with FWC and hold a special Goliath Grouper research permit which allows me to target these fish and handle them in a different way than the law states. All this is in the name of research. I do not recommend targeting these fish.
The reel I'm using is the Maxel Oceanic 50w.
TSUNAMI TACKLE
Bimini Bay Outfitters
www.FISHGUM.com
www.rcioptics.com
Bottom Sweeper Jigs - lddy.no/mphm
www.actionhat.com
www.livewatersports.com
www.GoFishCam.com

[@justinvreelandmusic]

Nice to see this grouper was filmed! Thanks for the help with Connor and I!

[@candycee8634]

This is an awesome video! Thank you Joey for the work you are doing!

[@SaltLifeGeo]

Been watching you Joey for a while. What an incredible catch. Keep it up 👍🏻

[@Justhavefuns]

Thanks for all the video Joey

[@gregoryzakutansky622]

What incredible footage. That close to a beast. Jacques- Cousteau-esque...Nice composure when he shook his head at you.

[@thatguy3702]

Thanks for uploading ofiten on these days I can get to fishing it’s nice have a new fishing video I haven’t seen befor

[@karenlatham7468]

Amazing catch Joey! Great video brother.

[@tokay999]

Good work! Love the pier videos

[@acapnan9015]

Super catch bruhh

[@fredguajardo3784]

Great vid full on beast mode

[@jarodwaldman3303]

So awesome as usual

[@ADVENTURESOFBZ]

You da man Joe 💪💪🤘. Super cool!!!

[@aaronblackwell8202]

Happy Easter sweet Goliath

[@ANGLERPRITAMMHATRE]

Super catch bro

[@hookandcookreellife]

Friggin beast 👍🐟🎣

[@phiberoptik232]

thanks for your efforts toward conservation and protection of our wild resources.

[@saltyinletfishing379]

Hell yeah man!! That was a close call 😱

[@adriannieves9593]

Hey Joey I guess u took all the Carbon shields I will love to have one ??? That back corner is loaded 😂😂😂

[@RWoodOutdoors]

Nice fish Joey!

[@working2bselfsufficient724]

Such a beauty

[@Curryhunts]

Hey Joey, you do all the sample and stuff like that, do you know an approximate age on a fish that size?

[@jean-yveslefebvre6446]

nice (april fool) fish Joey keep up the good work!

[@Sheerkon]

the man.

[@Xnei-ui3fp]

Great video love Sebastian inlet caught a 440 pound grouper there last week with the help of a few friends

[@Slobfishn]

This is The Best footage on KZbin.

[@louv2425]

Monster buddy...what line did you have on that reel?

[@rsmobley4685]

Nice! Your in my neighborhood. Love fishing sebastian inlet.

[@jelly_fishing]

Monster fish !!!

[@dtdolan1288]

what is the max drag on that reel joeys using

[@mathew00]

All that in flip flops... LOL #skills

[@troycote4503]

That's absolutely nuts. I lived there for a couple years and fished that spot before they added on to the end of the jetty in the early 90s with my buddy Troy red head, hell of a fisherman. I bought up his record Red fish off the Catwalk and it was all of 60 lbs, and 60 inches. Fish and game watched him land it and said, That's the state record, hurry up and get it back in the water. I went back in 2018 , went to the inlet and just happened to run into Troy right as I was explaining the fish he caught 25 years earlier! Lol I ended up getting 2 reds on buck tails in the low 30s. Insane how those Grouper came back! MONSTERS down there!

[@jamesbendele9818]

That was amazing! Do you have an approximate guess as to how much that weighed?

[@tonygville2969]

Jesus Christ has Risen 🙏 Happy Easter to you and yours Joey and Logan and Dave, Peep's 🙏

[@pitching1012]

Amen:)

[@triggsyfishin4724]

can you do a rod and reel arsenal video

[@libertywilly7519]

Early entry for vid of the year.

[@alexv.4608]

What size leader and hook do you use ?

[@stephenolsen9544]

Get it!

[@duckyducklup4824]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂I get it omg

[@tonygville2969]

I grew up in the old Miami back in the 60-70's and we would make many trips down to Jewfish Creek/Gilbert's in the Keys. That one would be a normal size Beast swimming under the bridge. The Keys bridges were loaded up with them, and I don't remember a lot of folks taking them. Lots of trouble to be gotten into at Gilbert's in the late seventies. It Snowed quite a bit in the Keys 🙄, Thanks be to God for His Divine Mercy 😉 Lived to experience Life today 🙏 I'm a Dead Man walking by the Grace of God 🙏 Viva Cristo Rey

[@timothygu3]

Back in the early 2000s I took a trip down to the keys, stopping off at islands to fish for a while before getting to key west. I saw a crowd of people under a bridge watching Manny Puig freediving with a small piece of rope. This dude was diving straight down and getting these Goliath grouper to bite the rope, he’d pull his arm through the groupers mouth and pull it to the surface. My mind was blown to say the least. Definitely something I’ll remember forever.

[@tonygville2969]

@@timothygu3 cool 👍, looks like you were in the right at the right time, what a gift 👍

[@jeffkoon2873]

Hey Joe what size circle hook are you using, love the vids and conservation efforts your into ; great fish WOW !!!

[@fantomphoenix6170]

I’m pretty bad at guessing hook sizes, but I think it’s a 12/0 14/0 or 16/0. Can’t measure joeys hands :P

[@Tyler-kw9ce]

@@fantomphoenix6170 definitely closer to a 20/0

[@JoeyAntonelli]

I use 16/0 ‐ 20/0.

[@garyritterstrings]

Will the piece you cut from the fin grow back?

[@jayanurulpapua2005]

Woooww groperrr big

[@CatchingDinosaurs]

prob the best fight i have seen vs a goliath

[@lonez2308]

You should make a home made grouper rod like out of pbc pipe or something and shoot a vid with it

[@fishinfinaddictyttv3122]

Awesome man can't wait to get my first big one. I'm catching small ones on swimbaits around the mangroves and under the causeways but nothing like this yet. I have 3 60w squalls and they dont hold up to the abuse the goliaths dish out on the wrecks I've already busted a rod, broken a rib, and lost my pride lol

[@fantomphoenix6170]

When looking for a rod, you need to feel it out a bit (like I do when I get snagged every 3 casts) Barret rods makes absolutely incredible rods, but they come with a hefty price. Fiberglass rods are incredible for durability so that’s another thing to look for if you like them.

[@fishinfinaddictyttv3122]

@@fantomphoenix6170 the rod was pinned to the gunnel and a 400 # goliath made a hard dive to the bottom and it threw me off balance into the transom and cracked a rib and broke my rod right above the handle. It was just the cheap conventional that the squall combo comes with. No harm done other than every time I breathe its painful and my pride took a hit. I'm new to saltwater so I appreciate the advice I will check them out

[@fantomphoenix6170]

@@fishinfinaddictyttv3122 lighter drag, also dropping your body weight will help. Lighter drag at the start, then tighter drag at the end to prevent it from taking off downward. Then once you go to land it, take the drag back off so if it gets second wind as it’s next to you, you don’t get smacked

[@fishinfinaddictyttv3122]

@@fantomphoenix6170 now you tell me lol. It was actually only my second trip offshore and I'm certainly still learning. I definitely appreciate the tip man that all sounds like it should help. Last night I had 2 chances at a tarpon the first took half a black mullet that was about 16" so an 8 inch piece of cutbait. The second opportunity came minutes later with my float rod I drifted into the channel with a live pinfish. I was on fb live when it all happened too but unfortunately I didnt keep either one pinned. They made great runs and I thought i drove the hook home. But they both were jumping somewhere out in the dark distance and shook the hook free. I'm going to go to an 8/0 trokar I was using a 7/0 mustad 3x circle. I hammered the hooksets but im sure I'll lose more than I ever land. Last week i had a 40+ inch "tarpon" on at Punta rassa... it ate a live shrimp under a popping cork, lol it was a snook I'm still bummed about that too. I've had some opportunities since moving just need to capitalize

[@JoeyAntonelli]

Full drag the whole time. Use a 2 speed in low gear and have the rod butt under your armpit. Keep your center of gravity low and just turn the handle. No pumping needed.

[@carlosmarquez8118]

👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏 Beautiful 🤩 man 🙏😃

[@williambenner5550]

This video should go viral! How epic can you get?🤔

[@acehgunfishing2386]

Wow..it a biggest fish..how you can found this spot?

[@fantomphoenix6170]

Just keep trying different spots in your area, don’t want to many people crowding around one spot, then have it be over fished. The spot hes in is usually combat fishing shoulder to shoulder

[@nedyarb2000]

That looked like the fish was about an inch from knocking you into next week!

[@chandlerzorc8181]

That’s huge

[@SneakersAnonymousMatt]

im pretty surprised u didn't do the walk back method an just reel back up as u walk forward unless u were trying but fish was to powerful reason u need to fish with good footwear that has grip vs sandals lol.

[@fantomphoenix6170]

I have almost got completely fucked over doing that, if the fish turns and runs toward you then you would need to walk/run forward + reel It’s good to have a good visual on the fish to see what you need to do

[@SilasFishermanSF]

Nice

[@Jwright7055]

You could tell that one guy was annoying the hell out of you bro. Good on you for staying cool.

[@yokre8115]

When I grow up, I want to be like Joey.

[@johnrickards1908]

I want to be a scientist :-)

[@warz801]

E P I C

[@jasonbenjamin9371]

Flat out bad ass catch, dude. What can even be said about something like that?

[@byoungizzle]

What line you running on your 50W for grouper?

[@fantomphoenix6170]

400lb mono

[@byoungizzle]

Me too, good lol

[@gradybrowning3976]

What do you think the weight of it was???

[@reelhighfishing8920]

New intro on the way?🤪

[@richardcruz102]

Hi Joey ! Please rescue"potato bug" that young Goliath grouper trapped under this pier with that ring around him

[@bassAssassin187]

They need to open a season on these dam things. They are eating all the fish on wrecks and theyve went inshore and tearing the fishery apart. They breed like crazy It's absolutely rediculous!

[@mdstmouse7]

theres been much discussion on it

[@williambenner5550]

@@mdstmouse7 I agree. They should let people harvest one a year, but only the ones around 100 lb or so.

[@mericanwit]

I dunno I’ve done some seriously crazy things in my life... Bit this...🤷🏻‍♂️

[@mitchdoud9727]

400 lb ?

[@66bigbuds]

Have you seen the video of a grouper eating a skindiver?

[@fishydubsfishing6516]

There must never be a season period

[@Dave30867]

Wheres Dave ? Dave ? ohhh he gone to catch Moby Whale jobs on .

[@jakelencher817]

i think i heard your name said atleast 30 times.

[@williambenner5550]

At least!

[@hypraktiv]

its never that slow when I go wtf...

[@larrydunn7691]

Time to start eating them again there are so many

[@jackfleming7457]

unfrikinbuhLEEbuhl

[@umpatas5468]

You are just trying to get eaten. Lol I will never target them again. Caught one like that when I was 12. If I hadn't had help it never would have been landed. Too much for me now.

[@wendyshoo3476]

Its so rare and beautiful to be killed for food. I hope they release the magnificant fish back to sea or let many people see them in big aquarium in sea world aquatic..

[@christopherphelps3101]

Probably 400 pounder

[@jeremiahboyer]

Joey love the content. But please edit,shorten, or remove your intro please for the love of God, thanks.

[@fantomphoenix6170]

You can skit 10 seconds (or rewind) by using the arrow keys, or double tapping the sides of the screen. The intro is a good showcase of what you can expect from this guy.

[@duckyducklup4824]

First

[@stephenolsen9544]

Not first to like it! Lol

[@aslan5305]

Wanna meet tommorow? I dmd u on insta.

[@xxxSiMoN18xxx]

Jews for Jesus

[@seansteele5472]

Wrong! Warsaw is biggest species

[@prestongonzalez3836]

But I thought that the gueensland grouper is the largest

[@JoeyAntonelli]

I think you're wrong. Pretty sure the largest Warsaw is around 450 lb while Goliath is over 600lb. I could be wrong though.

[@JoeyAntonelli]

I just did a quick Google search and the Goliath can reach over eight feet and over 800 lbs. Definitely the largest grouper.

[@mdstmouse7]

igfa records (could be bigger fish but this is reliable). Goliath grouper 680, sea bass 563, warsaw 436, giant grouper 395. if you find larger id be interested in hearing it.

[@fantomphoenix6170]

Nope, Goliath is biggest, although Warsaw’s do get pretty big!