What was supposed to be a routine fishing trip for Clay County’s Yvonne Norman and her brother turned into a potentially record-smashing day on the water.
A lifelong angler and cleaning business owner, Norman was bobbing in a 20-foot boat nine miles off the coast of St. Augustine on Monday when she hooked a gigantic African Pompano.
As she strained to reel it in, Norman sensed that this was no ordinary catch. The siblings hoisted the flashing silver beauty onto their vessel and couldn’t quite trust their eyes.
“I carry 50 pound horse and chicken feed bags at home and I couldn’t hold the fish up,” Norman told The Citizen. “So we both knew she was something amazing.”
Norman had never seen an African Pompano that size before and wondered if it was another type that she was unfamiliar with.
But a fish app confirmed that it was indeed a Pompano.
“The largest one on record, that has the record for filling out all of her paperwork, was 1990, a gal out at Titusville, and it was a 39.5,” Norman said. The brother and sister began to wonder if their finned trophy could somehow exceed that weight.
They tried weighing it at a fishing shack near the boat ramp, but the scale there was only for shrimp and not considered official.
So Norman immediatley took the fish home and used a standard home scale to check the weight.
“It’s showing 40 pounds,” she said. “We knew we had to get this to a professional shop, get her on record.”
She called Beamish Custom Tackle in St. Augustine, explained the situation, and was told to bring the fish in right away.
The Pompano was too large to fit in any of their coolers, so Norman packed it in ice, covered it with a wet towel, and headed out.
“We were both in a state of ‘what’s happening right now,’” she said.”
When she arrived at Beamish, two bug-eyed local police officers were on hand to witness the weigh-in and serve as official verification.
On the certified scale, the African Pompano weighed in at 40.08 pounds — enough to potentially beat the current record.
Norman, who said she has been fishing since she was a little girl with her brothers and dad, said she has always fished independently and took pride in never having to hand over the rod.
“I am guilty of never letting my husband or anyone hold my pole,” she said. “My fish, my pole. They can all confirm.”
Married for 43 years with kids and grandkids, she explained her initial attraction to her other half. “We married at 18,” she said. “He had a boat and a sports car. He had me hook, line and sinker.
She is now working to submit her paperwork and official documentation to the appropriate record-keeping organizations. The catch is currently under review for state and possibly world record status.
Word of Norman’s catch has already made waves in the fishing community. From the sheer size of the fish to the spontaneous scramble to document it properly, the experience is one she won’t forget.
“Absolutely beautiful,” she said.
