22-year-old catches big fish

Michael Arjoon, a 22-year-old La Romaine man, caught the biggest catch of his life so far last Tuesday – a 320-pound warsaw grouper – during a birthday fishing trip.

Arjoon told Newsday he went to Power Boats in Chaguaramas at about 5 am with a boat crew captained by Kirk “Captain Nello” Leotaud, who took them near a rig not far from Gaspar Grande island.

At about 9 am Arjoon dropped his line in the 700-foot-deep waters off the northwest coast. He said moments after, he got one of the strongest pulls he had ever felt.

“The pull was really heavy from the fish. The line cut my hand when the fish pulled. I dropped it, because it was on an electric reel. So we used that to fight with him.”

Arjoon said the fish fought with fishermen for about an hour. Every time they pulled it a yard closer to the boat, the fish pulled back about three yards. Even after it was pulled out of the water it fought for several minutes until it finally died.

Arjoon said they were lucky, as the 300-plus-pound fish was caught using a combination of 100-pound and 200-pound lines.

“It was a really good experience for me. To see a fish that size in TT waters is just amazing.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website says the warsaw grouper can grow up to 90 inches and weigh as much as 580 pounds.

In February two Florida anglers pulled a 294-pound grouper out of the water. A month before, another Florida fisherman snagged a 350-pound grouper. The world record for the largest warsaw grouper ever caught in Florida was 436 pounds.