Viral Video of Warsaw Grouper

We first shared this video with our Facebook fans last week and it has since taken off and become so viral it’s made national and in some cases multi-national news!

Here’s the story behind it:

Captain Paul Christie was the fisherman behind this rare find as part of a fishing contest in Bradenton, FL. The Warsaw Grouper was so large (347 lb) it wouldn’t even fit through the tuna door of the boat. A crane and makeshift pulley had to hull the massive fish out of the boat. According to Sport Fishing Magazine, the record for largest Warsaw Grouper was caught on December 22, 1985 by Steve Haeusler and it was a 436 lb 12 ounce fish caught in Florida off the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

In the end, Captain Paul Christie won the fishing tournament at a grand total of $10,000.

Warsaw Grouper

Warsaw Grouper, also known as Black Grouper, are known as deepwater fish (anywhere between 180 – 1,700 feet) and can be mostly found in Belize, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States and possibly Suriname.

“Uniformly dark brown, with no distinct markings; dorsal fin with 10 spines; second spine very long (much longer than third); caudal fin squared-off; rear nostril larger than front nostril; young have yellow caudal fin with dark saddle on caudal peduncle; some whitish spots on body.” Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

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Images and Sources: Sport Fishing Magazine, MySunCoast.com, MyFWC.com

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