Maryland State Record Gray Triggerfish

A new Maryland state record for gray triggerfish was set recently. Angler Wayne Gower of Baltimore landed the 5 lb. 2 oz. triggerfish on October 31,2014 while bottom-fishing aboard a charter off Ocean City, MD.

Gower was one of about 20 passengers on charter Captain Chris Mizurak’s 65-foot head boat for a trip to the Great Eastern Reef. Mizurak called DNR Fisheries biologist Steve Doctor to inform him they had a large triggerfish to weigh.

The crew met Doctor at the dock where he confirmed the species, and then headed to Sunset Marina where weighmaster Amanda Sprows certified its weight. DNR fisheries biologists agreed that a gray triggerfish of this size in Maryland is rare and deserving of a record.

source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources

North Carolina State Record Queen Triggerfish Caught

In May, 2011, a North Carolina angler caught in a state record queen triggerfish during a recent fishing trip off Wrightsville Beach. William Timothy Cox of Greensboro caught the 10-pound, 5-ounce fish May 22 at Same Ole Hole, located about 40 miles off Wrightsville Beach.

The fish measured 30 inches from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail and had a 23-inch girth. The huge fish establishes a new state record queen triggerfish; no prior state record existed.

To establish a new state record, the fish must be within reasonable range of the world record and exceptionally large for North Carolina, as determined by N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries staff and a N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tournament Advisory Board.

The world record queen triggerfish was 14-pounds, 3 ounces, caught off Cancun, Mexico in 2009.


source: N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries