MAY 26, 2015 – By David Strege
Jon Black landed what is likely the biggest goliath grouper ever caught from a kayak—an estimated 552 pounds.
Black, who is from the Crazy Lure Tackle shop in Cape Coral, Florida, was fishing off Sanibel, Florida, when he hooked into the giant fish and screamed with excitement like a little kid catching his first fish. It was his largest fish by far.
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.
It was 83 inches long with a 73-inch girth, measurements used in a certain formula to estimate the fish’s weight.
Only unofficial world records exist for kayak fishing, and there are two sites that we’re familiar with that keep them. Neither has goliath groupers listed. One only lists a red grouper and the other lists several smaller grouper species, the biggest of which is 39 inches, leading to the belief that this is likely a record fish.
But to give an idea about the size of this goliath grouper, the all-tackle world record is 680 pounds caught off Florida in May 1961, before they became protected in 1990.
Apparently, Black felt the need of protection, too.
“I thought he was going to kill me,” Black told Chew On This. Naw, but it did destroy his fishing rod.
