Watch: Giant Grouper Flips Paddle Boarder

Check out the video at the bottom of this post.

The charter fishing boat captain who made headlines earlier this summer when a bull shark knocked over his kayak is at it again.

This time Capt. Ben Chancey of Chew on This Fishing Charters went toe to fin with a giant goliath grouper off shore of Stuart. The fish managed to boot Chancey off his paddle board before being reeled in by the fisherman. The entire encounter was caught on video.

While Chancey is an experienced fisherman and longtime charter captain, paddle boarding is a bit of a new experience for him. It seems the 7-foot long, 412-pound goliath was able to take advantage of that fact, but only for a few moments, the video shows.

“This was the first time I had ever stepped foot on a paddle board and it was in 37 feet of water with a big rod and huge bait on the end of it,” he told Patch. “I had no idea what was about to happen and how it was going to turn out, plus my legs kept shaking while attempting to stand on the paddle board.”

Why exactly Chancey opted to trade in the trusty kayak that enabled him to snag an 8 ½-foot bull shark for the paddle board remains unclear. Chancey, however, did manage to master the board long enough to make the catch before measuring the fish and throwing it back.

See Also:

• Monstrous Goliath Grouper Snagged by Kayaker
• Watch: Bull Shark Flips Angler’s Kayak

Chancey said the catch was his biggest grouper “not from a boat.”

Back in May, a fisherman in the Sanibel area reeled in a 552-pound goliath from his kayak. That fish was also big, but not the state’s biggest ever snagged.

Goliath grouper can grow up to 800 pounds. The record catch in Florida came in at 680 pounds, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. That catch was made off Fernandina Beach back in 1961.

Goliath groupers are a prohibited species. That means it is illegal harvest or possess them. Goliaths that are reeled in must be returned to the water “free, alive and unharmed,” the state’s website says.

Sometimes, however, it’s nearly impossible to avoid a close encounter with a goliath grouper. Last year, a monster of a grouper jumped up and ate a 4-foot blacktip shark right off a fisherman’s line in Bonita Springs.

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