It’d be interesting to know how many misidentified blackfin snapper are tossed back. Capt. Mike McFadden initially thought he was looking at a red snapper when his new IGFA all-tackle world record hit the deck. It’s a good thing he took a closer look.
McFadden caught his 10-pound, 6-ounce blackfin snapper (AKA hambone) on a shelf in about 400 feet of water on a sporty March 26 off Stuart, Florida. It bested the existing all tackle world record of 8 pounds 13 ounces, which was caught by Andrew Godley out of Louisiana in 2023.
Bottom Fishing off Stuart
“It was a rough day, I mean it was super sporty,” said McFadden. “It was 4-foot (seas) and maybe 10 miles from Jupiter Inlet up to Stuart. We were kinda pushing the limits of my new boat to see what it was capable of.”
McFadden had been running his 23-foot Aquasport Tournament Catamaran Black Cat for about a year, and he was testing its suitability and new twin Suzuki 150s for a Bahamas crossing. On this trip, they were primarily targeting blackfin tuna in sloppy conditions.
“We went to one of our favorite spots,” he said. “You know, the sounder marked immediately on tuna. We put a couple tuna into the boat immediately and then started bottom fishing.”
Record Blackfin Snapper Bites
With 12 ounces of lead, he dropped a live sardine to the bottom on a wind-on top shot of 40-pound fluorocarbon. They were also slow pitching and fast jigging, but when one of the live bait rods came tight, the fight was different from what McFadden expected. He couldn’t tell what he had on the line.
“You know, I can usually tell what it is by the fight,” he said, “but this was different. It was a really slow-pulling, strong fight, and I just couldn’t figure it out. When this thing hit the deck, though, we all thought it was a red snapper.
“Then it started to kinda show its true colors, if you will,” McFadden continued. “The yellows were starting to pop out, and then that black comma, which is really what nailed it for us.”
They Didn’t Realize it was a World Record
Adult blackfin snapper typically inhabit structure in 200 feet and deeper. They look similar to red snapper but can be distinguished by their yellow trim and a distinct comma-shaped black spot at the base of the pectoral fin. With a positive identification, McFadden bled the fish to preserve the meat and put it on ice as part of his 10-snapper aggregate limit.
It wasn’t until later that night, after washing the boat down that McFadden got a text message from a friend: “You might have a world record!”
The next day, McFadden took the fish to an official IGFA weigh station in Jupiter and got the certified weight. He said he thinks the fish would have easily weighed heavier than 11 pounds if they hadn’t bled it and left it on ice overnight.
Blackfin Snapper are Good to Eat
As far as table fare, McFadden is glad he bled the fish. He took it to Reed Brand at Captain Clay and Sons Seafood Market in Delray Beach for processing. Brand (Reed the Fishmonger on YouTube) is known for getting every last bit of meat off of fish.
“The cheeks, the collar, the ribs, we got everything out of that thing,” McFadden said. “You know, yellow eye snapper was my favorite snapper before I had this blackfin. Blackfin, by far now, is my favorite fish. There might be a little bias speaking there, but I just had hogfish from The Bahamas last night, and I’m like, this still isn’t as good as blackfin.”
King Sailfish Mounts is making a replica of the world record blackfin snapper for McFadden to hang on his wall.
