300 lb Grouper caught from kayak

They "knew" they were targeting the Goliath Grouper, hence the setup they were using.  It is frowned upon over there to "target" this species.  Legal-yes but still considered a bit taboo.

~Bill

Very similar to the culture surrounding BSB. And if somebody posted a video on youtube of a BSB caught & "released" like that...they'd get reamed! 2yrs ago a guy caught a big BSB from a pier and posted vids of the catch & "release" and he had to go to court for it (both real court and public court where he was raked over the coals).
But hey, congrats to the guy for catching a big fish from a 'kayak' though.

That'd be like going out for a day of catch and release coho fishing.

Just flat out unethical, legal or not...

Someone should stick a hook in that guys mouth, drag him around for a while, then release him.

This kind of fishing is featured all the time at Big Water Adventures TV show with Mark Davis.  Although done a boat.

I agree ... bycatch is usualy unavoidable, but the purpouseful catch of something illegal to keep.  Why bother?

That'd be like going out for a day of catch and release coho fishing.

Just flat out unethical, legal or not...

Someone should stick a hook in that guys mouth, drag him around for a while, then release him.

+1
Highly unethical.

No paddle,
No mirage drive,
No fishing poles on the kayak
Not kayak fishing.
If you want to say its the largest fish ever caught from a kayak that's just wrong. The guy in the boat technically landed it. Even if it was hooked from the kayak the hand off would negate it in my book and the IGF rule book so sorry not kayak fishing. Notice the shirt and buff, this guys on one of the Hobie local teams, I wonder if his dissission to where a PFD had anything to do with hero shots. (Hobie only uses photos where a PFD is worn) maybe they should Change the rule to also include the parts that make your kayak move.
Hopefully the fish were being tagged for science.

First thing that came to my mind was he's cheating , deffinatly not kayak fishing just because your sitting in one doesn't mean it counts !
Hopefully it's not a real record and just a title for a bunk you tube flick

Sobrante angler out! Lol

The rope, big reels, unsporting, why so controversial?

I've read articles from old timers about fighting massive jewfish, the old un-pc name of the Goliath Grouper. They fished them on hand lines anchored off to a rubber inner tube lashed to the boat.  Even then it wasn't shooting fish in a barrel cause the fish would hole up and break off or in some cases capsize a boat.  On conventional tackle it be pretty irresponsible to let a big grouper escape with 400 yards of mono or worse, spectra, attached to it. I'm all for light tackle, I actually love it but there's a time and place for it. 

Regarding the gripe over protected species.  Keep in mind Florida regs are as bad as ours.  From what I hear the fish are coming back, while still a sore subject for some, fishing for them isn't as  unkosher as it used to be.  There appears to be a cottage industry of guides that target them for c&r....like this guy.


That ain't kayakfishing....but it looks fun.

All I got on the video was 3 guys fishing in a boat.

BOGUS . Thats definetly not kayak fishing.  Sure would be nice if the Fish and Game of that state reamed them even if they did tag it.

meh.

not my bag at all.