A Texas bride caught a huge 50-pound black drum fish while still in her wedding dress.
Eliot Waggoner Granville and her husband decided to go fishing on the night of their wedding last Sunday.
Still wearing her wedding dress and veil, Granville cast a line off of Red Dot Pier in Corpus Christi.
After about 45 minutes, she felt something on her line, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported.
Granville told the newspaper that she had not been using big bites, so she did not think the fish would be very large at first.
"But then I started reeling him in and he started fighting with me, and it took like 10 to 15 minutes for me to get him to the pier," she said.
When it became clear the fish was much larger than she thought, Granville used a net to lift its head out of the water and haul it onto the pier.
Granville estimated that the black drum fish weighed 40 or 50 pounds. After a few photographs were taken, the bride released the fish back into the harbor.
Granville, an avid fisher, told the Caller Times that it was "probably the biggest fish" she had ever caught.
She said her arms were sore after lifting the fish for the photo. A photograph posted on her Facebook page shows two men holding the fish on either side to help support the weight.
The bride said she goes fishing to feel closer to her father, who died last year.
"Other people had been there for a long time and didn't catch anything, so I feel like it was dad watching over me and sending me a little—or big—wedding gift," Granville told the Caller Times.
Newsweek has reached out to Granville for comment.
Black drum fish are native to Texas and live in clear water in sand flats. They prefer shallow waters and are often spotted as their large bodies can be seen poking above the surface.
Most black drum fish weigh about 30 pounds and can weigh up to 40 pounds in rare cases. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the largest black drum on record weighed 146 pounds. The state record for the biggest catch by an angler is 81 pounds.
Larger black drum fish are most often found when they gather in the Gulf and some channels before breeding during February and March. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, this is the best time for trophy anglers to reel in a particularly large one.
Update 5/25/22, 3:25 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a new main image.
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