Crista and her co-workers from the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas came down in mid-April just before the snapper opener with one thing in mind: being the first aquarium to display a live Warsaw grouper. They’ve caught Warsaws before, but always in deep water (300′ plus) where post-catch survival was poor. The challenge they put before me was not just to catch one, but to do it in shallower than 200′. Well, mission accomplished. We caught this 40# warsaw in about 180′. The picture was taken in the big livewell they put in the back of the boat. Despite their best efforts, this one didn’t make it either- unless you were thinking of the frying pan. In addition to the Warsaw, we added a nice cobia, several gag and scamp groupers, and a school of red snapper to the Aquarium’s current collection. Hopefully the aquarium crew will be back to try again.

 

AQ warsaw.jpg