Record grouper in LA. WOW!

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<H2 class=vitstoryheadline><SPAN class=vitstoryheadline>Med. student catches record grouper south of Fourchon</H2><H5 class=vitstorydate><SPAN class=vitstorydate>08:37 PM CST on Tuesday, November 13, 2007</H5><SPAN class=vitstorybyline>Associated Press <SPAN class=vitstorybody>

THIBODAUX -- A medical student who blindfolds his friends to keep his favorite offshore fishing spot secret has come up with a record-beating fish -- a warsaw grouper weighing 359.1 pounds. <DIV class=vitstoryimageleft style="WIDTH: 280px"> <P class=vitstoryimagecredit>WAFB-TV<P class=vitstoryimagecaption>Tabor unloads the massive fish off his boat.</DIV>

The giant hauled in by J.J. Tabor of Thibodaux is 12 ounces above the previous Louisiana state record, a state biologist confirmed.

It's been cut down to fillets. The first fillet weighed 53 pounds, Tabor said.

He caught it near an oil rig 70 miles south of Fourchon, in 400 feet of water. He won't give a more specific description. <DIV class=vitstoryimageright style="WIDTH: 280px"> <P class=vitstoryimagecredit>WAFB-TV<P class=vitstoryimagecaption>Tabor lays next to his 360-pound prized catch on the boat.</DIV>

"It's J.J.'s secret," said Joey Rodrigue, a friend from Baton Rouge who joined Tabor and Tabor's father, John, on the record-making trip Saturday. "I don't even know where I was. He blindfolds us on the way out."

Tabor said he thought at first that his hook with a live hardtail on it had it the bottom "until I felt the big head shake."

Rodrigue steered away from the rig.

"I put myself in a harness and just had to lay back and fight," J.J. Tabor said. "It was about a 15 or 20 minute fight." <DIV class=vitstoryimageleft style="WIDTH: 280px"> <P class=vitstoryimagecredit>WAFB-TV<P class=vitstoryimagecaption>Tabor estimates the filets cut from the fish will weigh about 50 to 60 pounds.</DIV>

Tabor cleaned the fish late Monday afternoon outside his father's auto repair shop in Thibodaux. "We'll split it up," he said. "I'll make some phone calls and try to get rid of it fresh. The rest, we'll vacuum pack it and cook it later."

Tabor says he believes the fish is about 33 years old. He plans to send an inner-ear bone called the otolith to a university in Florida where researchers can help determine the age of the fish. He hopes to get the results in about four weeks.

The world record, caught off Florida in 1985, is 436 pounds, 12 ounces.

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