Angler Toby Grantham caught his share of fish during a 48-hour trip aboard a Carteret County headboat earlier this year, but it only took one to establish a new state record.
Grantham caught the 27.6-pound scamp Sept. 25 while fishing off Atlantic Beach aboard the Continental Shelf and quickly learned from Capt. Dave Tilley and others that it was a fish worth weighing in.
“I’ve done mostly inshore fishing previously, but over the last year or so I’ve been fishing offshore,” he said. “I’ve caught a few scamp, but I didn’t realize he was as huge as he was.”
Grantham learned late last week from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries that his catch was one of two recently certified as new state records.
“I’ve had citations, but I’ve never had a record before,” Grantham said.
While he lives in Knightdale, Grantham said his family has a place in Beaufort and he does a lot of fishing off Carteret County.
Grantham caught the fish with a Shimano Stella 8000SWPG reel and Black Hole Cape Cod Special 54S 250g rod, using a Blue Water Candy Roscoe Jig on 50-pound line test.
The fish measured 40 inches in total length and had a 26.25-inch girth.
It also came close to the world record 29-pound, 10-ounce scamp caught off the coast of Alabama in 2000.
North Carolina did not previously have a state record scamp. To establish a state record fish, the angler must submit an application that is reviewed by Division of Marine Fisheries staff and a N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament Advisory Board, the division said.
The fish must be exceptionally large for North Carolina waters and within a reasonable range of the world record.
North Carolina also has a new state record for gag grouper.
Tim Gallimore of Ocean Isle Beach caught the record 46-pound gag grouper May 1, 2011, on live bottom in 200 feet of water southeast of Ocean Isle Beach.
It wasn’t until Saturday, however, that he learned his catch is now the state record.
Gallimore’s catch was previous to and replaces the record 43-pound, 8-ounce fish caught May 12, 2012, off Morehead City by David Abernathy of Newport.
North Carolina did not have a state record gag grouper on the books until Abernathy’s catch. Gallimore had received a citation at the time of his catch but didn’t pursue trying to establish a record in the category. However, he followed up with the state after learning a record was established by a fish smaller than his.
Gallimore said Abernathy’s catch was an admirable one, but he is excited to have his catch on the record books.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime record,” he said.
Gallimore’s fish measured 44 inches from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail and had a 28.5-inch girth. He used live pinfish for bait on 80-pound braid line test with a Shimano TLD 25 reel on a Penn Standup rod.
The world record gag grouper weighed 80 pounds, 6 ounces, and was caught off the Florida coast in 1993.
Contact Daily News reporter Jannette Pippin at 910-382-2557 or jannette.pippin@jdnews.com. Visit JDNews.com to comment.