Big Grouper Grabs Diver On Keys Reef

June 26, 2005

Release from: Bill Sargent
FloridaToday.com

ISLAMORADA - No doubt, sharks are the most notorious for latching onto underwater divers. On occasions, barracudas have been known to do the same.

But this fish-bites-man story centers around one of the more docile creatures of the deep -- the slow-moving and inquisitive Goliath grouper, for years known as the jewfish or giant grouper.

Bob Charles, a Florida Keys diver from Cudjoe Key, claims to have the bruises and four stitches in a lip following an "attack" by an estimated 100-pound Goliath grouper.

"It was just so fast," Charles told the Keynoter, a Florida Keys newspaper. "I didn't realize my head was in his mouth until I was on the way to the hospital, and I saw the blood on the top of my head."

Charles said he was diving with a friend and they were spearfishing for snapper in about 30 feet of water. The grouper continued to follow him, sometimes only a few feet away.

"He was making this thudding noise they do, then all of a sudden he turned and hit me," Charles was quoted as saying.

The force ripped away some of Charles' dive gear, but he managed to surface and swim to his boat.

Many of the popular Florida Keys dive sites, where divers use legal means for spearing snapper, grouper, hogfish and other species, are home to at least one resident Goliath grouper.

Some of the big grouper relate the divers to potential handouts, and on more than one occasion a grouper has tried to grab a speared fish from the grasp of a diver. If an injured fish manages to get away, it often becomes easy pickings for the resident grouper.

Goliath grouper grow to 400 and 500 pounds. Because of their enormous strength and size, they have been known to pose a threat to divers.

There's no question that since the species was placed on the protected list in 1990, its numbers have grown rapidly. Most sizable reefs and almost all wrecks have grouper as regular residents.

Charles admitted he was lucky because his encounter was with a relatively small grouper.

He said the grouper might have killed him if it was larger.

Charles' story has been the talk around dive and tackle shops in the Keys.

Bob Berger, owner of Bonefish Bob's tackle shop in Islamorada, said the report reminded him of a true story 35 years ago, in the waters offshore Maine, when a monkfish killed a diver.

"My son-in-law was giving diving lessons to four or five guys near the Nubble Light House offshore York," said Berger, a native of Maine. "They were in only 20 feet of water.

"All of a sudden a monkfish came out of nowhere and grabbed one of the divers by the throat and there was nothing the others could do. The fish killed the guy,"

The monkfish has a large gaping mouth, similar to a grouper, and large teeth.

"Some people call it the wolf fish for obvious reasons," Berger said.

Honor for Stu Apte. Stu Apte, considered a pioneer of fly fishing for tarpon as a Florida Keys guide, is among five men being honored by the International Game Fish Association.

Apte, John Morris, George Parker, Don Tyson and Edward vom Hofe have been picked for enshrinement into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame.

The induction will take place Oct. 25 at IGFA headquarters in Dania Beach.

Each year, honorees are selected for their important contributions to the sport of fishing through angling achievements, literature, invention, communication and other reasons.

Apte developed a huge following as a fly-fishing tarpon guide in the 1960s, and he has held more than 40 IGFA world records. Apte also is a writer and photographer.

Morris, best known as founder of Bass Pro Shops, is a five-time qualifier for the Bassmaster Classic world championship in addition to being an ardent conservationist and IGFA Trustee Emeritus.

George Parker caught the first 1,000-pound blue marlin in Hawaii's waters in 1954. His work was instrumental in getting scientists to agree that the Pacific blue marlin is a sub-species. Parker was one of the first captains to guide out of Kona.

Tyson, recognized as one of the world's best billfish anglers, is dedicated to tagging and releasing these great fish. As an IGFA trustee, he played a major role in developing the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum.

Vom Hofe is synonymous with big-game fishing reels. He started building them in the late 1800s after developing fly and salmon reels. He died in 1920 at the age of 74.

Currently, there are 55 members in the Hall of Fame including Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey, Curt Gowdy and Ted Williams.

The evening will include a reception, silent auction, induction ceremony and dinner. Special sponsorships and sponsor tables are available. For information call (954) 924-4222.

Classic weigh-in. BASS officials are predicting some of the largest weigh-in crowds in the history of the Bassmaster Classic, which is coming to the Kissimmee-Orlando area on Feb. 24-26.

The daily weigh-ins will be staged at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The anglers will be trucked, along with their bass boats, from West Lake Toho at Kissimmee.

The convention center also will house the BASS Expo, a giant manufacturers show that includes everything from fishing tackle to lodges to boats.

The announcement by BASS last Monday that Lake Toho would be the 2006 Classic site came as no surprise. Many speculated a central Florida location after BASS moved its national headquarters to Celebration, near Disney, and announced that the Classic was being moved from mid-summer to the end of February.

Classic VII was held on Lake Toho and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in 1977 but on a much smaller scale.

At that time the site was kept a secret until all the contestants were airborne on a charter jetliner, and the weigh-in drew about 500 people.

Thousands now attend the made-for-TV, weigh-in spectacle that is expected to be broadcast live on ESPN, which owns BASS.