Jewfish of Dry Tortugas

Giant Jewfish of Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This large Jewfish, actually I think they are calling them Goliath grouper these days, was one of several hanging out around the dock on Garden Key at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

I suspect this Jewfish will weigh a bit over 100-pounds. The other fish you see in the picture are snappers weighing between 1 and 2-pounds each.

I took this picture from the Yankee Freedom II while at the dock on Garden Key at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

Giant Jewfish of Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This is one of the larger of the Jewfish swimming under the Yankee Freedom II while we were docked on Garden Key at Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This one looks like he may go 200 pounds or a bit more. He looked to be over 5-feet long and groupers like this have very wide and deep bodies much like a largemouth bass, only beefier if you get my drift.

What you see in this picture is the waterline on our boat the Yankee Freedom II as this large Goliath grouper swims under the boat. The smaller fish in this picture are snappers in the one to two pound range.

Giant Jewfish of Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This Goliath grouper or Jewfish is over 5' long and will weigh in excess of 200-pounds.

The ripple of dark blue along the bottom of this picture is the dark blue of the bottom paint on the Yankee Freedom II at the waterline.

This large Goliath grouper's head is actually under the boat.

Giant Jewfish of Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This is one of the smaller Jewfish or Goliath grouper hanging around the docks on Garden Key at Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

I took this picture while on the Yankee Freedom II, the boat that transported us from Key West to Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas 70-miles west of Key West..

This Goliath grouper or Jewfish may weigh 100 pounds but not much more.

Giant Jewfish of Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

This is one of the smaller Jewfish that were hanging around the dock on Garden Key at Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

Giant Jewfish under dock on Garden Key at Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

To give you an idea of size the small snappers you see in this picture will resemble a 2-pound freshwater bass. This Jewfish should weigh around 90-pounds.

Giant Jewfish under dock on Garden Key at Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas

While standing in the same place one after another these giant Jewfish would stop by for a visit. The park rangers here at Fort Jefferson have names for them. I can see where it would be fairly easy to name them since they vary in size enough tell one from another.

This one looks to weigh around 150-pounds.

Jewfish mounted and displayed in Key West Restaurant

This is a mounted Jewfish to give you an idea of the size, shape and color of these large fish.

It looks like this fish may go a bit over 200 pounds which is around the size of those Jewfish at Garden Key and Ft Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.