Huge Red Grouper Shatters Georgia Record

Georgia's new state-record red grouper could be in the record books for an extended time, considering by how much the old record was beaten.

Bruce C. Bartlett Jr., of Kingsland, Ga., shattered the old mark with the 26-pound, 6.4-ounce red grouper he caught Oct. 4 off the Georgia coast, the Georgia DNR said. The old record, caught in 2012, weighed 19-7.

The Georgia Saltwater Gamefish Records Committee approved the new record Friday, Oct. 15.

Bartlett, 49, caught the record while fishing aboard his boat, Fishslaya Duece, east of Navy Tower R4.

The fish measured 34.5 inches long. It was weighed in at M & A Seafood Market in Kingsland on scales certified by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Bartlett caught the record on a 5-foot, 8-inch Ugly Stik Tiger rod with Shimano Torium reel and 65-pound Power Pro line using a live cigar minnow as bait. His terminal rig was a fish-finder sinker slide with an 8-ounce bank sinker to a 100-pound barrel swivel, following by a 60-pound fluorocarbon leader and 6/0 Eagle Claw circle hook.

"This achievement recognizes not only the size of the catch, but Mr. Bartlett's skill as an angler and the sportsmanship displayed in landing a record-setting gamefish," Georgia Coastal Resources Division Director Doug Haymans said.

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