A new species has just been added to the Maryland fishing record books.
Jian Feng Li of Montgomery County, Maryland, caught a yellowedge grouper deep in the ocean canyons off Ocean City on Aug. 27.
The yellowedge grouper is a remarkable-looking fish. Like all groupers, it has a gaping mouth. But it is also known for its almost comical yellow, bulging eyes and the yellow edges on its pectoral, dorsal and anal fins.
The yellowedge usually ranges from North Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. But they’ve been reported by “deep dropping” anglers off of New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
“Deep dropping” refers to fishing in the canyons off the Atlantic coast, in which anglers drop their bait as deep as 400 to 600 feet. Often, electric reels will be used because it can take as long as 25 minutes to reel in your line to change bait.
On this day, Li was out with Captain Chase Eberle’s charter boat Tiderunner with Chasin’ Tides Charters. The anglers started their day fishing for pelagic species like mahi, which live in the water column and not near the bottom. Eventually, they tried deep-dropping in Poorman’s Canyon off Ocean City, looking for large bottom fish.
The group dropped false albacore strip baits with heavy sinkers into the 420-foot-deep canyon. Li was using a hand-cranked conventional reel, with no electric assistance.
Even though four anglers all hooked up with big fish, three broke off and Li was the only one able to bring his fish to the surface. At 43 inches and 38.0 pounds (weighed on a certified scale at Sunset Marina in Ocean City), the yellowedge grouper became the first state record holder for that species.
Maryland DNR biologists confirmed the species and added it to Maryland’s state records in the Atlantic division.
The catch is only 10.6 pounds lighter than International Game Fish Association’s world record yellowedge grouper, which was a 48.6-pound fish caught off Dauphin Island, Alabama in June 2012.
Yellowedge grouper are a deep-water species that are usually found in 290 to 1,200 feet of water. Suggested bait for yellowedge grouper include chub mackerel, sardine, squid, and white octopus, since they eat a variety of invertebrates and fishes.
They are white, flaky fish that some chefs say hold more moisture than other fish. Some liken its taste to that of halibut or bass.
If you catch a yellowedge grouper or another fish you believe could be a record catch in Maryland, fill out a state record application and call 443-569-1398. DNR recommends immersing the fish in ice water to preserve its weight until it can be checked, confirmed, and certified.
