During a birthday fishing trip in Cape Coral, Fla., a mother of a fish put up a great fight after pulling two anglers into the water while trying to reel it in.
Chew On This Charters, hired to take the group on the open-water trip, shared the shocking video footage to their YouTube Channel.
“Mike’s birthday present threw him overboard, took his fishing rod and then his friend Eric’s girlfriend, Jenny, caught it back with the anchor on the bottom,” the caption reads.
Ben Chancey, one of the captains aboard that day, said birthday boy Mike, whose last name is unknown, hooked a grouper fish that they spotted. (Mike’s girlfriend, Shannon, had helped the group plan this outing for two months.)
Mike jumped into the water to get an epic photo with his catch, while his friend, Eric, held onto the rod, eventually getting pulled in.
“After about 10 seconds of fighting the giant fish on his own, he was pulled down to the gunnel and was lifted overboard by the giant fish,” Chancey told Fox News. “When he went over, he grabbed the side of the boat and then had the rod pulled out of his hand.
“The rod was lost.”
This was the first time the boat captain had ever seen two men get pulled into the water by the same fish, he told Fox. The goliath grouper weighed in at 450 pounds, which Chancey described as an “upper echelon” catch.
Jenny told Global News that they released the grouper after making sure it wasn’t harmed, and it swam away safely.
The possession of a goliath grouper has been prohibited in both state and federal waters off Florida since 1990, per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The law states that the fish must be immediately returned to the water alive and unharmed, and photographs can only be taken during the active act of release.
It also mentions that this species of fish must be left in the water, as its skeletal structure cannot support its weight out of the water without some damage.
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