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.
“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.
“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.