“Texas” Roy Crush said the snook he caught on April 26 in Quepos, Costa Rica could have eaten his previous personal-best snook. At 58.6 pounds and 50 inches long, Crush’s giant Pacific snook is certainly the fish of a lifetime. It crushed the existing IGFA 20-lb. line-class record of 47 pounds, and it’s just a pound shy of being the largest snook on record with IGFA.
“I lost a big one earlier, so I was just concentrating on getting it in and not screwing up,” Roy said. “I knew it was big when it came up, but when I saw the guides in the boat—the guys who do it every day—start to get pumped up, I knew it was something special.”
Roy is an experienced angler with a background fishing professional inshore tournaments on his home-waters around Galveston, Texas. He was in Quepos for the first time with Capt. Steve Hoyland, of Hoyland’s Adventures. They were filming for Texas Boys Outdoors, Crush’s non-profit that provides fishing trips for kids, veterans and first responders.
With local guides in Quepos, they got some spectacular fishing footage over a couple of days. While Carolina rigging live sardines on 20-lb. tackle, Crush and some buddies boated the 50-incher along with other slob snook that measured 45, 42 and 37 inches. The video will air this summer on the Texas Boys Outdoors show on the Pursuit Channel.
“I’m glad some of my best fishing buddies were there and we got to experience it together,” Roy said. “I also caught my first sailfish, so I think I’ll be going back to Costa Rica. Next time we’ll take some firefighters or veterans.”
Roy and his wife Jean Crush started their non-profit because Roy had made a hobby out of guiding free trips on Galveston Bay for people who need to go fishing, like sick kids and veterans.
“I do something I enjoy, and I get to give back a little. It’s a real blessing,” Roy said.
As for the record fish, Roy is getting together the paperwork to submit to IGFA. The current 20-lb. line class record weighed 47 lbs. It was caught off Panama in 2017. The all-tackle world record stands at 59 lbs., 8 ozs. It was caught out of Quepos by Capt. Ward Michaels in 2014.
For more information, see texasboysoutdoors.org and their Facebook page Texas Boys Outdoors.