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Screaming Florida kayaker lands 552-pound goliath grouper

Jon Black of the Crazy Lure Tackle shop reeled in a goliath grouper estimated to weigh 552 pounds while kayaking in Sanibel.

By Ben Hooper
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SANIBEL, Fla., May 27 (UPI) -- A Florida man landed an 83-inch-long goliath grouper experts said could be "the largest bottom fish ever [caught] from a kayak."

Jon Black of the Crazy Lure Tackle shop in Cape Coral was fishing from a kayak in Sanibel, Fla., when he reeled in the fish, which measured 83 inches long and more than 73 inches in girth.

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The fish was estimated to weigh 552 pounds.

A video of the catch posted to YouTube by Captain Ben Chancey of Chew On This Fishing Charters shows Black scream with excitement as he wrangles with the fish, which broke his rod.

The video's description said Black "caught the largest bottom fish ever from a kayak in Sanibel."

The grouper, a protected species, was released after being measured.

The largest grouper on record weighed in at 680 pounds when it was caught off Florida in May 1961.

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