Ultimate catch-and-release

Raleigh woman reels in a huge black drum on Topsail Island -- and then puts it back into the sea

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/1329445.html

Catching a state-record fish is the dream of some anglers. Catching world-record fish, an improbable feat, is the pinnacle of sport fishing achievement in the eyes of many.
Gwen Frazier may have done both recently, but we'll never know, because she let the fish go.

And she's glad she did.

On Nov. 23, Frazier was surf-fishing on the south end of Topsail Island when she hooked a huge black drum. What ensued will have some anglers shaking their heads and some anglers shaking her hand.

"I have a place at Topsail, and I surf-fish in the fall for red drum, black [drum] and flounder," Frazier said Thursday from her Raleigh home. "I probably got there around 10 a.m."

Frazier was relaxing with friend Kim France of Raleigh on the beach with her rod in a surf spike (a tubular rod holder) when France saw the rod bend and told Frazier she might have something.

"It was heavy, and I thought it was a skate," said Frazier, referring to a raylike fish common to anglers this time of the year. "It wasn't moving fast; a smaller fish would have zipped out to the sea."

Frazier is not an avid surf angler, but she's no Jennie-come-lately to fishing, either. She has an 18-foot Grady-White boat that she uses to fish for dolphin (mahi-mahi) and king mackerel beyond sight of the beach.

Many anglers cut their lines if they suspect a skate or ray is on the other end, but Frazier, a marketing director for The Redwoods Group, played the unknown adversary as other anglers passed, assuring her it was a skate or ray. Frazier wanted to see for herself, so she patiently played the fish.

Then, she got a glimpse.

" 'Kim, I think a saw a fin,' " Frazier, 49, recalled saying. " 'Kim, I think it's a fish.' "

France then left to secure a cell phone and a camera, and in the meantime, Frazier was able to ease the huge drum into the surf wash after 45 minutes. The receding water caused the heavy fish to get stuck in the sand. Two spectators helped free it. By then, France had returned and friends she had called started showing up. One, Dennis Fronk of Wilmington, said, "That's the biggest fish I've ever seen."

It might have been the biggest black drum anyone has ever seen.

"I'm 5 foot 4 [inches]," Frazier said, "and the fish was exactly my height."

If that's accurate -- and we'll never know for sure -- the fish probably would have been a state record and perhaps a world record, said Randy Gregory, a fisheries biologist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

"In 1980, the state record was 84 pounds, and the length 53 inches and the girth 42," said Gregory, who also serves as the weighmaster at many saltwater fishing tournaments. "In 1990, it was broken again at 87 pounds and the length was 54 and the girth was 38 3/4."

The current state record is a 100-pound, 1-ounce behemoth caught by Charles R. Dycus of Sanford in 1998. Gregory said that fish was 56 inches long, with a girth of 46. The world record is 113 pounds, 1 ounce.

Gregory also had a caveat about fish measurements.

"You have to take all of these with a grain of salt," he said. "I don't know how they were measured. Most of the time anglers do a very poor job of measuring fish. They take curved measurements or not at the fork of the tail. If it is indeed a 64-inch fish, she likely released the state record and world record. We will never know for sure. It's well over 100 pounds."

Not knowing, though, doesn't bother Gregory. He's glad the fish wasn't available for him to examine.

"The lady should be commended for releasing this fish," he said. "She should be applauded. There are very few of these really big fish. They're incredibly important to the stock. That fish is probably 60 to 75 years old."

Frazier said she downloaded a picture of the fish (which she named Black Beauty) into her computer, measured the reel seat (where the reel attaches) on her surf rod and used a computer program to estimate the length of the fish. That, and her height comparison, is how she derived the estimated length.

It's a moot point.

After landing the fish and taking pictures, Frazier got help moving the fish back to the cold surf, and then spent 20 minutes in the cold water stroking the fish, reviving it and helping it back to deeper water.

"After I got out, people asked me, 'Aren't you freezing,' but it hadn't occurred to me how cold the water was until then," she said. "The guys helping wouldn't go in the water, but Dennis did."

Looking back, Frazier said she wished she would have measured the girth and taken better video, but she happy with the outcome, records or not.

"It was a real adrenaline rush," she said. "In hindsight, I would have done a lot of things differently, but that's OK, the fish is still alive. It was a very, very cool fish."

A fish of a lifetime. I applaud her for turning the fish back.

65-70 years old!? Wow . . . Knowing THAT, killing it just to have your name written somewhere just doesn't seem worth it . . . well done!!