Oak Island Angler Establishes Red Grouper Record

MOREHEAD CITY – Thanks to angler Chuck Deeter, of Oak Island, and Capt. Anthony Ng, of Winterville, North Carolina now has a state record for red grouper.

Deeter reeled in the 33 pound, 8 ounce record setter while fishing with Ng on October 13.

Until they pursued the question after a particularly good day of grouper fishing off Cape Lookout, there wasn’t a North Carolina record for the species.  It took a while to go through all the steps and have the species established to qualify for the record, but they persevered and the initial record now belongs to Deeter.

According to Carole Willis, Coordinator of the N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament, an annual tournament administered by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, while there had not previously been a record for red grouper, Deeter’s fish met the criteria for establishing a new record.  Two of the criteria used to determine if a new record category should be established are that the catch be exceptional in size for North Carolina waters and within a reasonable size range of the world record.

The world record for red grouper is 42 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught off St. Augustine, Fla.

Because of a late return from the fishing trip, Deeter’s fish was not weighed until roughly noon the day after it was caught.  The certified scales at the Anchorage Marina in Atlantic Beach finally settled at 33 pounds, 8 ounces for the fish that measured 35 inches long and 25.5 inches in girth.

“It was the second or third fish I caught the morning before,” Deeter said.  “While we had it iced down well, it was over 24 hours after I caught it before we weighed it.  I wonder what the difference would have been had we been able to weigh it within a few hours of catching it?”

Deeter’s nephew, Roger Eddy, and Eddy’s neighbor, Aaron Haga, of Kernersville were also on board and also caught citation size grouper.  Eddy’s big grouper weighed 23.5 pounds, while Haga’s was just a little heavier at 24 pounds.  They were fishing in just over 100 feet of water south of Beaufort Inlet and using chunks of menhaden for bait.

“I want to give the credit for this catch to Capt. Anthony Ng,” Deeter said.  “He put us on fish from the beginning and every time the bite slowed he moved us back on them.

For more information on this and other N.C. record or citation saltwater fish, visit the Recreational Fishing section of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries web site at www.ncdmf.net.