Cool catch — Angler lands rare fireback grouper

Galveston Capt. Bill Platt has caught a lot of fish in his years of fishing.

But this summer, he pulled in something even he had never seen before.

“We were fishing in about 300 feet of water, out of Galveston about 100 miles,” he said. “We were bottom-fishing, catching grouper and some warsaw. Then I hooked into a fish, but got hung up in the bottom.”

Platt could have easily lost the fish, but managed to free the line and bring the fireback grouper up to the surface. He said he didn’t immediately know what he had caught.

“It was quite something,” he said. “Those things are pretty rare and I had never caught one, even though I’ve been fishing the Gulf my whole life.”

The fireback grouper was caught using a small blue runner.

“You can see the colors really well and that’s why I like it so much,” he said. “I saw all the colors and was like, ‘Wow, he’s all lit up.’ It’s a fluorescent, bright color.

“I’ve caught 500-pound blue marlin, and yeah they’re pretty, but this was the best looking fish I’ve ever caught.”