Man catches monster fish weighing nearly 300 pounds

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Cullen Greer has been sport fishing most of his life, but never before has he reeled in something like this. He says it took him 30 minutes to muscle in the beast of a giant warsaw grouper using a hand crank.

Greer and his boss were fishing off of Louisiana, in about 500-600 feet of water. Greer says 297 pound, 6 foot, 6 inch fish sets the record for the largest fish ever caught off of Louisiana, and the fifth largest grouper ever caught anywhere.

"We knew we were catching something big, we just didn't realize the sheer size of it," he said. "It was definitely the most intense workout I've had in a long time. ... I think I'm done for a while. I'm still a little sore and it's been a couple weeks."

Now here's the twist: Greer is set to marry his fiancee in about two weeks and she says she balked at the trip a bit. Now she jokes that she just might not be his greatest catch any longer. He says that's not true, calling Colleen Harris the catch of a lifetime.

The couple did say, however, that while they now have a freezer full of it, grouper would not be on the menu at their wedding reception.