The marine game fish record for an amberjack was recently dismantled by a veteran South Carolina angler with a triple digit catch out of Murrells Inlet.
Lee Frederick, of Murrell’s Inlet, caught the 100-pound 8-ounce amberjack on Saturday, Aug. 9 to claim the new state record by a mere 13 ounces.
Frederick, 37, ventured out from Murrells Inlet with captain Troy Strickland and friend James Moore for an overnight fishing frenzy aboard the 34-foot-Crusader, Killin’ Time. The crew headed just northwest of the Georgetown Hole and anchored in 160 feet of water.
Frederick was fishing a Heavy Ugly Stick 6-foot rod with a “Red Face” Penn 6/0 reel. He was using a cigar minnow for bait on a bottom rig when he landed the 66.3-inch (total length) record amberjack catch.
The monster fish was reeled to the boat in about 15 minutes. Frederick’s catch tops the previous marine game fish state record holder for an amberjack by 13 ounces, which was set by Shane Kelley in 1998.
South Carolina DNR biologist Kris Reynolds certified the new state record fish weight at Captain Dick’s Marina in Murrell’s Inlet, and verified the record fish report to the Marine Resources Division in Charleston.
For a current listing of South Carolina’s State Record Marine Game fish, visit the DNR Web site at www.dnr.sc.gov/fish/saltrecs/record.html, contact Amy Dukes with the Office of Fisheries Management, DukesA@dnr.sc.gov, or call (843) 953-9365.
Be the first to comment