While looking for monster sharks, fisherman catches something much rarer in SC waters
“You work your whole life in the ocean for a moment like this,” Tallboy Fishing Charters Captain Richard Pollitzer said after snaring an incredibly massive and rare fish.
During a recent expedition in Beaufort County, where he was fishing for “monster sharks,” Pollitzer hooked something else — a goliath grouper.
Rather than catch a lemon shark, tiger shark, or hammerhead shark, which is typical on one of his outings, Pollitzer hooked a goliath grouper that’s estimated at about 7-foot-6 in length and between 400 and 500 pounds in weight. For some perspective, that’s roughly the same size as former professional wrestling star Andre the Giant.
But it wasn’t just the size of the fish that made this catch so unusual. It’s the rarity of goliath groupers in the southeast, especially along the Carolinas, that causes it to stand out.
Nearly driven to extinction following overfishing of the species in the 1980s, reports of goliath groupers in South Carolina waters are slightly more common than sightings of Halley’s Comet.
“It’s probably the rarest catch there is here,” said Chip Michalove, another well-known charter fishing captain in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. “It’s extremely rare.”
To that point, Michalove said he has hooked about 80 great white sharks over the past 7 years, but has never caught a goliath grouper.
Goliath groupers once ranged from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil, the Associated Press reported. But its numbers dropped sharply starting in the 1960s.
By 1990, harvesting goliath groupers was prohibited in the southeast, and the fish was considered a candidate to be listed as an endangered species, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Goliath groupers were placed on the species of concern list until 2006.
Its now found primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral and artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys in U.S. waters, according to NOAA.
They usually are not found inshore at Port Royal Sound, which connects the Beaufort River and Atlantic Ocean off of Hilton Head Island. But that’s exactly where Pollitzer hooked the bottom-dwelling fish on June 3.
A goliath grouper “was the last thing I expected to see,” Pollitzer said after reeling in the fish following an hour-long struggle.
Pollitzer said he and his crew had just lost a big shark when they hooked the goliath.
“It was bog and we couldn’t stop it from taking all the line of the reel. So we left the anchor behind and gave chase,” Pollitzer said.
Without knowing what was on the other end of his reel, Pollitzer said he began to suspect it was not a shark based on its behavior during the fight.
“It didn’t want to leave the area we were fishing, where sharks will generally run away,” Pollitzer said. “We suspected that it might be a nurse shark but it was too strong so it was a mystery until we actually saw the fish.”
When the fish finally emerged to the side of the boat, someone on board yelled “It’s a goliath!” a video shared by Pollitzer shows.
“Yeah fat girl,” mate Adam Turri said as he patted the belly of the massive fish, video shows.
When he realized what was on the line, Pollitzer said he cut it loose and he and the crew stayed with the goliath until it swam away and they determined it was healthy.
As unlikely as it might be to hook a goliath, if one is caught the fish must be released by cutting the line and not be removed from the water, according to hunting and fishing regulations in South Carolina.
After sharing video of the catch, Pollitzer said he was contacted by two other fishermen who told him they had caught goliath groupers in Port Royal Sound over the past 15 years.
Michalove said he only knew of one other goliath being caught in the area.
While divers have reported seeing goliath groupers on offshore wrecks and towers, Pollitzer said this catch is unique because it happened inshore.
“I suspect that there might be a few other goliaths in the area and that they’re not caught because of the abundance of sharks,” Pollitzer said.
Goliath groupers are considered apex predators with a spiky dorsal spine, and are capable of emerging victorious in a battle with a shark.
“They have got a mouth big enough to engulf a small person. It’s a huge fish,” Michalove said.
But goliath groupers are too vastly outnumbered in South Carolina waters to risk an encounter with a shark.
“The inshore areas of Beaufort County have one of the highest concentrations of sharks in the country during the warm months of the year. So you have maybe a handful of groupers among thousands of sharks putting the odds starkly in the sharks’ favor,” Pollitzer said.
Pollitzer called the experience surreal, and doubts if he’ll ever get another chance to catch a goliath in South Carolina.
The odds are greater of encountering a goliath in Florida, where the species has made a remarkable comeback, Pollitzer said.
Today, the goliath is found mainly off South Florida, where they live in reefs and shipwrecks, according to the AP.
Goliath groupers’ aggressive nature and hungry appetite for hook fish have made them a competitor for fishermen in Florida. In May, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took the first step toward allowing fishermen to catch and kill goliath groupers, the AP reported.
But in South Carolina, Pollitzer’s fish story likely won’t go away for a long time.
“I wish it was me. It’s quite a catch and pretty amazing,” Michalove said. “It’s so cool when we make news for wildlife and fish in Hilton Head Island, which most people think is just golf courses and time shares. Now people will come here for something other than playing golf. It’s a game changer for tourism.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 1:08 PM with the headline "While looking for monster sharks, fisherman catches something much rarer in SC waters."
