By admin 
SOUTHPORT, N.C. (WNCN) — A fish caught off the coast of Southport earlier this month has set a new North Carolina State record for its species.
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According to the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries, Wyatt Rabon of Leland was fishing 45 miles offshore of Southport with his dad and friends on May 16, looking to catch grouper and triggerfish. Using live pinfish for bait, Rabon caught a Graysby Grouper “on 100-pound test with a Shimano Trevalla rod and Shimano Torso 30 reel,” NCDEQ said in a release.
The group made their way back to shore and almost did not turn in the fish for certification.
“The crew nearly filleted the fish once they got home before realizing they might have a potential record,” the release from NCDEQ said.
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Instead, Rabon had the fish weighed in at the Intracoastal Angler in Wilmington.
State officials said the Graysby Grouper weighed in at three pounds and eight ounces, setting a new record for that species. The previous record holder, which was caught in 2022, weighed three pounds and 0.8 ounces. Rabon’s fish measured slightly over 17 inches from the tip of its nose to the stretched end of its tail, NCDEQ said, with a girth of 13 inches.
NCDEQ said Rabon’s catch also unofficially ties the current certified International Game Fish Association All Tackle World Record Graysby Grouper, which was caught off Georgetown, SC in 2023.
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