‘Gonna Need a Bigger Boat’: Man Catches Goliath Grouper in a Kayak

Giant grouper rise to the surface during feeding time at the Aquaculture Technology Asia facility in Hong Kong. Photo credit: Dominic Bracco II

Cue the “we’re gonna need a bigger boat” jokes.

A fisherman in a kayak near Cape Coral, Florida, made the catch of a lifetime: a Goliath grouper.

The grouper, which are known to eat small sharks, weighed in excess of 500 pounds, and it snapped the man’s fishing rod.

According to ABC7, the fisherman was identified as Cape Coral man Jon Black. He is heard screaming with delight while he attempts to catch the Atlantic Goliath grouper in Sanibel in May.

The fish is believed to have weighed about 552 pounds, reported the Adventure Sport Network. It was 83 inches long and was 73 inches wide.

“After the fishing rod broke, Black still managed to get the Goliath grouper to the boat and eventually led it to shore where it was measured and then released, as is required by law since they are protected,” the Sport Network wrote.

Black was still reportedly able to measure the fish before releasing it.

As Business Insider noted, goliath groupers are known to stalk and ambush divers.

The goliath grouper is the largest of the grouper species in the Atlantic Ocean, and they can weigh up to 800 pounds, according to NOAA’s website. However, there have been reports of much larger groupers.

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“They were once so overfished in the southeastern United States, they were considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act,” according to NOAA.

They’re found in shallow tropical waters near coral reefs, and its range extends from the Florida Keys to the Gulf of Mexico. But it’s also found in the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea, and off Brazil.

Despite this grouper’s massive size, it didn’t break a world record. That record actually belongs to a 680-pounder caught, also in Florida, in 1961.

Black owns Crazy Lure Bait & Tackle Shop in Cape Coral, Florida. His company says that could be the first time a kayaker in Florida has caught a goliath grouper. So Black could still hold the unofficial record for largest grouper caught in a kayak.