For Real?????

[Smokin Joe]

I'm not to sure what to make of this story I'm a bit skeptical

What do you think???

THIBODAUX , La. --A medical student who blindfolds his friends to keep his favorite offshore fishing spot secret has come up with a

record-beating fish -- a warsaw grouper weighing 359.1 pounds.

The giant hauled in by J.J. Tabor of Thibodaux is 12 ounces above the previous Louisiana state record, a state biologist confirmed.

It's been cut down to fillets. The first fillet weighed 53 pounds, Tabor said.

He caught it near an oil rig 70 miles south of Fourchon, in 400 feet of water. He won't give a more specific description.

'It's J.J.'s secret,' said Joey Rodrigue, a friend from Baton Rouge who joined Tabor and Tabor's father, John, on the record-making trip

Saturday. 'I don't even know where I was. He blindfolds us on the way out.'

Tabor said he thought at first that his hook with a live hardtail on it had it the bottom 'until I felt the big head shake.'

Rodrigue steered away from the rig.

'I put myself in a harness and just had to lay back and fight,' J.J. Tabor said. 'It was about a 15 or 20 minute fight.'

Tabor cleaned the fish late Monday afternoon outside his father's auto repair shop in Thibodaux. 'We'll split it up,' he said. 'I'll make some

phone calls and try to get rid of it fresh. The rest, we'll vacuum pack it and cook it later.'

Tabor says he believes the fish is about 33 years old. He plans to send an inner-ear bone called the otolith to a university in Florida where

researchers can help determine the age of the fish. He hopes to get the results in about four weeks.

The world record, caught off Florida in 1985, is 436 pounds, 12 ounces.

[basskicker09]

thats huge

[bigugli]

Ive seen the fellas downon the Eastern shore bring in 5-600 lb tuna that would take hours to fight. The boys on "Fish TV" did an episode on P.E.I. with a tuna boat bringing in one around 7-800lb.

I'm not familiar with Warsaw Grouper, but Goliaths commonly range at 2-300lb. That fish would make one tough old meal

[Guest old guy]

I think its a shame to kill a fish that big.

Take a photo and release

[schertzing]

Well i can say for sure that i've personal seen many fish of that size come out of Florida waters. Fish in excess of 300 pounds can be common. Its a big ocean out there with big fish boys. Our big fish like 50" musky are meer bait out there. Last year i caught 3 Tarpon over 175lbs and trust me these fish are small compared to whats out there.

[knightfisher]

Who would want to eat a fish 33 years old

And I would want to make good and sure it was dead

before I would put a 350 lb fish near my family jewels

[Tom Chopin]

Doing a google search of Warsaw Grouper it is definitely real. Those fish are giant and come from such great depths that releasing the fish will probably kill it anyway. Avg. life span 41 years and 7.7 feetlong up to 440 pounds. This one was just a mature adult not an old grandpa.