Surfer Sets Yellowmouth Grouper World Record

Justin Quintal of Jacksonville, Florida, is a name well known in the international surfing community. He’s the 2019 World Surf League long board world champion. And now he might be the new IFGA yellowmouth grouper world record holder.

Quintal caught a heavyweight grouper 60 miles offshore from Jacksonville late in the morning on June 25. But his quest for another world record was just beginning, reports the Citrus County Chronicle.

Quintal posted pictures of the big fish on social media, and learned that not only was his prize an unusual yellowmouth grouper, but it was so huge it could be an IGFA world record for the species.

After returning to shore, and getting input from savvy fishing friends, Quintal realized his catch—unofficially weighing 23.2 pounds-—could best the current IGFA world record for the species. That record is 22 pounds, 8 ounces, caught by Brian Ford on Sept. 2, 2001, off Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

But Quintal needed an…