On June 16, Yvonne Norman made headlines when she landed an impressive African pompano while fishing with her brother, Will Van Duyn, near Nine Mile Reef off St. Augustine, Florida. While slow-trolling live baits for king mackerel, Norman experienced an encounter that could break a 40-year world record.
"It was just a few days before National Go Fishing day when Will and I headed offshore," said Norman, a dedicated angler known for her love of fishing. "We had lots of live baits in our bait well and put out a couple wire-leader trolling rigs for kingfish."
Norman's outing that day was filled with excitement as the duo managed to reel in several kingfish, a large dolphin, and even a 50-pound cobia - all while dodging the area’s predatory sharks. "We lost a couple hooked kingfish to sharks," she remarked. "Sharks were a real problem, and we saw a giant bull shark easing around and under our boat."
The pivotal moment came around 11 a.m. when one of their trolling rods sprang to life. "I thought I had hooked a shark," Norman recalled, describing the fight with her catch. "It stayed deep and was really strong. It made about five or six runs, and it took me about 20 minutes to get it near the boat. When it came close I saw how silver it was and didn’t really know what kind of fish it was."
As the fish approached, a formidable bull shark emerged from beneath their boat. "I tried to get my fish to one side of our boat away from the bull shark, and Will was trying to gaff it and get it into our boat," she elaborated on the tense situation. "It was pretty wild there for a while. Will tried three times to gaff the fish before he hit it and hauled it aboard."
Remarkably, the shark did not intervene as they successfully brought the fish aboard, and it took a moment for the siblings to comprehend the size and significance of their catch. "The whole thing was a miracle that I caught the fish and a shark didn’t take it," said Norman. Upon realizing they might have caught a record-breaking African pompano, they quickly set out to have it weighed.
Due to its size, the fish wouldn't fit in their boat's ice chest, necessitating an unorthodox approach. "We put towels over the fish with ice bags on top to keep it cool," Norman explained. The pair then rushed back to the public boat ramp to weigh the fish, only to find that the local tackle shop lacked a certified scale. "We took the fish home and weighed it on a scale and it read 40-pounds," she stated, knowing they needed official verification.
They visited Beamish Custom Tackle in St. Augustine, where owner Roland Beamis weighed the fish using a certified scale. "The 44-inch-long fish officially weighed 40.08 pounds," she noted, emphasizing the significance of the certified weigh-in, as several bystanders, including two police officers, witnessed the event.
Notably, Norman used 20-pound class tackle during the capture. She plans to submit her leader and line samples along with the necessary paperwork to the International Game Fish Association in hopes of claiming the women’s 20-pound test line class record for African pompano.
The existing record is held by Karen Hogan, who caught a 39-pound, 5-ounce fish in April 1985 off Fort Pierce, Florida. Reflecting on her remarkable experience, Norman observed, "I pray for good fishing all the time when we’re out on the water. I think a guiding hand was with us that day because Will’s kingfish trolling rods, they were set up just perfectly."
As the days progress, anticipation builds for Yvonne Norman as she awaits confirmation of her potential record-setting catch, which has already generated buzz within fishing circles. With her blend of skill, persistence, and a little bit of luck, she exemplifies the thrills that come with sport fishing, reminding us all of the wonders of the sea.