Tag: Dry Tortugas

‘Tax man’ takes cut as rare grouper is caught off Florida

Florida guide William Delph explained that an apex predator moved in as the yellowfin grouper was being reeled to the boat.

A Florida fishing guide on Tuesday boasted of catching a large yellowfin grouper, minus a portion collected by the “tax man.”

“This one is very rare!” William Delph of Delph Fishing explained via Instagram. “For those of you who don’t know, this is a Yellowfin Grouper, otherwise known as a ‘Fireback.’

“These grouper are extremely rare to catch down here. Unfortunately, a shark decided to have a taste of this guy before we could get him in the boat.”

A shark is universally referred to as the “tax man,” or “tax collector,” when it claims claim parts or all of an angler’s catch.

Delph, who was fishing at the Dry Tortugas, did not provide a weight for his catch.

The Florida record for yellowfin grouper stands at 34 pounds, 6 ounces.

The world record is 47 pounds, for a fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas in 2021.

Yellowfin grouper reside mostly near offshore reefs, where they prey mostly on smaller fish and squid. They’re named because of the bright yellow coloration of their outer pectoral fins.

Potential world-record snapper succumbs to ‘tax man’

Anglers at Dry Tortugas National Park are catching lots of fish, but many are devoured by sharks before they cen be reeled to the surface.

On Friday I was directed to the Delph Fishing Instagram page, where several images caught my eye and where three things quickly stood out:

1) William Delph’s clients catch a stunning array of massive and brilliantly colored game fish in Dry Tortugas National Park, Fla.

2) Because some fish are so powerful they take a long time to reel up and become susceptible to shark predation.

3) The regional shark population appears robust enough to cause frustration among clients hoping to reel entire catches to the boat, and crewmen wanting to send clients home with fillets.

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The image atop this post is that of a red snapper that Delph Fishing estimated to weigh 45 to 50 pounds – about the same weight as the current world record (50 pounds, 4 ounces).

But as viewers can see, only the head made it to the surface.

Delph Fishing complained via Instagram:

“Well over 45-50 lbs this was one of the biggest American true red snappers we’ve ever taken only to lose it to the tax man in the end.

“Where do we go from here with these sharks? What’s really the next most effective move on how to fix this problem? It’s definitely gotten out of control don’t you think?”

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The catch occurred several weeks ago. Other recent images showed anglers posing with half of a large grouper, a portion of another large snapper, and the head of another huge grouper.

One of those posts included a description borne of frustration: “Dear National Marine Fisheries, please focus on the balance of our fisheries instead of the over-protection of our Apex predators. The damage already done to our fisheries is out of control.”

So it seems that while fishing at Dry Tortugas can be productive, anglers who can’t land their catches quickly enough might have to contend with the tax man.