Biggest yellowedge grouper-world record set by Heath
Cataulin
[April
20] VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, USA--Heath Cataulin of Norfolk fishing
aboard VBSF sponsor the Rudee Angler at the edge of the Norfolk
Canyon with Captain Skip Feller caught a 46-pound, 2-ounces
Yellowedge Grouper and set the new world record.
Photo: Heath Cataulin of Norfolk hauled
in a 46 pounds, 2 ounces yellowedge grouper about 70 miles
off the Virginia coast
(enlarge
photo)
The fish was verified by an official marine
biologist.
"At
first, nobody knew exactly what it was," said Cataulin, 28,
of Norfolk. "We knew it was a grouper, and it kind of looked
like one of the snowies. But it didn't have the white spots
on it."
Heath was using a hand-tied two hook
rig with Mustad circle hooks donned with squid on a Penn Baja
reel and Ugly Stick rod combo. The fight took approximately
15 minutes.
(enlarge
photo)
For Cataulin, the thought of catching a
world-record fish of any species is foreign.
"I fish off the beach mostly," he said. "This
was only the second time I've ever been offshore like that.
"It was huge," Cataulin said. "It wouldn't fit
in anybody's cooler. We ended up putting it in the boat's
big ice chest."
Cataulin: "And I'm pretty amazed at what I've done."
The previous world record was a 41-1 caught from
the Gulf of Mexico in 1998.
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