Pat Bennett is no stranger to the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. The longtime angler and owner of E-SeaRider Marine Beanbags has made his living based around the water.
When he hit the water for a dive 90 miles offshore during last weekend’s St. Pete Open, he knew there were big fish below.
“When I rolled over the boat, I could hear the goliath grouper booming 160 feet below,” Bennett proclaimed. “I knew they would be competing with black grouper for the same spot.”
Finding these fish was not easy for Bennett. Since May, Bennett knew this was the area he would be diving during the St. Pete Open, hoping to be atop the podium with his winning catch. The tournament brings out the most spear fisherman of any tournament in the world, meaning the title is coveted.
“In May, we had seen black grouper to 110 pounds at our main spot.” Bennett said. He left them untouched anticipating that a return during the August tournament would yield monsters.
Then the unthinkable happened. Bennett and company dropped down first on the “main spot,” which produced a 50-pound black grouper and nothing more.
“It was pretty barren. These fish move. A lot of people think of them as pets; if they feed them, they’ll stay home. That’s a big misconception. Those fish move around with water quality, bait, food source, predators and more,” Bennett said.
After bringing the 50-pound black grouper to the surface, Bennett and Team Explorer were on the hunt. After an hour of searching, they ended up about 1/2 mile from the original honey hole. Bennett saw what he was looking for on the depthfinder. “It was a large biomass of fish,” he said.
That’s when he rolled into the water and heard the thump of goliath grouper 160 feet below.
As Bennett neared the bottom, Capt. Ron Gauthier was close behind with camera in hand, filming for the upcoming episode of Capt. Ron’s Ocean Explorer on Destination American by Discovery at 5:30 a.m. Sundays.
“There was a large bait pod causing a really dark cloud,” Bennett recalled. “I pushed into the bait cloud, using it as camoflauge, ready to shoot. I saw the shadow of the black grouper on the other side of the cloud. The fish wasn’t moving his pectoral fins, and I knew he was prepared to jet and take off.”
Bennett took the shot, stoning it in the top of the head. He was dead upon impact before slowly rolling over.
Capt. Gauthier said the shot was perfect, with the spear sticking out of his head. “The black grouper looked like a unicorn, which was needed on such a big fish. The visibility was about 15 feet because the bull sharks were stirring up the bottom messing with fish.”
When they arrived and weighed in, the fish came to 99.75 pounds after being gutted, besting 2nd place and last year’s winner Justin Morraine’s 71.25-pound gutted black grouper for the title.
Other winners from the St. Pete Open include Scott A. Nunn, snapper, 21.9 pounds; Trey Strickland, amberjack, 87.45 pounds; Dan Traver, hogfish, 19.05 pounds; Adam Valle, barracuda/cobia, 35.45; Marc Meyer, lobster, 8.25; Ritchie Zacker, sheepshead, 6.4 pounds.
Gauthier says to look for this episode to air within the next month. I know I will be watching.
