New S.C. state record Gag Grouper

Captain Legare Smith displays the record Gag Grouper 

Angler Cantey Smith and his record Gag Grouper

Long time saltwater angler Cantey Smith of Mount Pleasent, S.C. went fun fishing with friends on Saturday August 3, and reeled in the Gag Grouper of a lifetime, grabbing a share of the S.C. state record, (pending SCDNR approval). Smith left out of the Charleston City Marina on the Artemis, a 54-foot Sea Island Design express sportfisher, with Captain Legare Smith at the helm. Readers may recall that Artemis won the 50th Big Rock tourney in 2008, and the S.C. Governor's Cup Series in 2007. With a day of bottomfishing plans to target some seafood delicacies, the Artemis headed offshore in search of triggerfish, vermillion snappers and BIG gag grouper! It is worth noting that it was a particularly pretty day offshore on Saturday with light Southest winds and calm conditions. Smith relates that Artemis made several stops and that they caught their targeted species all morning, but they had to fight off amberjacks at a ratio of three AJ's to every bottomfish caught. But it was the last stop of the day that paid off with the state record gag. Fishing in 150-feet of water, it was about 3 p.m. when Smith felt the strike from the big fish. Using a Shimano deep water jigging rod and a Shimano reel spooled up with 80-pount test mono, the BIG gag inhaled a large live menhaden on a 3-ought circle hook. The crew were cheering when the BIG gag broke the surface of the water, easily the biggest grouper Smith had ever caught, and the largest gag grouper that any of the crew had ever seen. Since it was time to throttle back to port, the celebration began as the Artemis brought their prize back to the scales. The gag grouper was weighed in at Haddrell's Point West on Sunday and then verified by the SCDNR on Monday as 48.5-pounds. This gag grouper actually TIES the existing state record from 1997 when angler R.L. Price caught the same-sized gag grouper.

To view past blog entries about State Record fish click here.

To view Smith's recipe for smoked marlin click here.