Throwback Thursday Video: Spearfisherman vs. Goliath Grouper
OutdoorHub Staff 08.25.16
Last year Grayson Shepard was spearfishing on a sunken wreck in the northern Gulf of Mexico when his adventure took a surprising turn. After a few close calls with goliath groupers that want Grayson’s speared snappers, a grouper finally grabs one, causing Grayson to take a bit of an unexpected ride.
The snorkel does an excellent job of hiding Grayson’s profanity, and the video is so much better as you try to guess what he’s yelling underwater.
According to Grayson: “In the first scene, I shot a snapper and was pulling it towards me when a goliath came out of hiding and tried to eat it. Had I been retrieving the fish any slower, he would have been successful. In the second scene, I shot a snapper, and as I approached it, a goliath attacked and ate it while I held the end of the spear in my hand. I get dragged a short distance, and this action bends my $50 spear so badly it will no longer load into my speargun. The third scene is a brawl with several goliaths fighting for my speared fish. One of them swallows it and breaks the line connecting my spearshaft to the gun. I lost that $50 spearshaft. Immediately after the line breaks, an unseen goliath that had sneaked up behind me eats a fish that was on my stringer and took off with it with me in tow. Fortunately, I had a grip on my spearband and was able to hang on until he let go.”
