FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – The rare Opah commonly known as Moonfish was caught just off the coast of South Florida.
What started as a routine swordfish trip turned into the catch of a life time for long time angler Laurel David, who’s been casting lines for more than 20 years.
“We rigged up some bait and got everything ready to go, trolled out to the spot. We dropped some baits down. We didn’t have any action on our first drop,” said David.
But on the final drop of the day in waters right outside of Fort Lauderdale David got a bite she never expected.
“Honestly when it was coming up it was acting like a really nice swordfish, doing a lot of the same things and the same behaviors. The driving was pretty much essentially the same as it would be on big sword fish like that,” she said.
What she landed instead was the elusive Opah weighing in at about 148 pound, a catch she had only dreamed of before.
“I’ve been dreaming of catching one of those since I was a little kid,” said David. ” I don’t even have words, I’m speechless, it’s incredible, it really is an amazing sight.”
Reed Brand who works at Captain Clay and Sons Seafood Market in Del Ray Beach was in disbelief of the rare catch.
“I couldn’t believe it, it’s absolutely insane. It’s the equivalent of seeing big foot, I think there’s more big foot sightings a year than there are Opah sightings in Southeast Florida,” he said.
He says Opah live in much deeper waters so sightings and catches of the only fully warm-blooded fish known to man are extraordinary.
“I’ve only heard of one other instance in my entire life of working in the commercial seafood industry in Southeast Florida where they caught one of these fish.”
When Laurel was asked what she would do with the once in a lifetime catch, she said she’ll be having it for dinner.
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