Florida Woman Reels In Massive & Rare Fish Off Beach Coast

A Florida woman made a special catch while fishing along a beach recently. Jillian Sanders told WSVN she was fishing around sunset at Fort Myers Beach, hoping she might snag something big.

“I was like, let me just throw some bait out there," she says. "I was hoping to catch a tarpon, because they’re number one in Fort Myers Beach Tarpon Club right now."

Then, she got a bite and starts reeling in her catch. A battle ensues between the mysterious fish and the tenacious Sanders. As the evening started to set in and a crowd of onlookers gathered around her, the fisherman noticed she caught a rare sawfish.

“Well, I knew it was going to be something pretty decent, because it went all the way out to the Gulf,” Sanders told reporters. “I didn’t realize it was going to be a sawfish.”

It wasn't just a normal sawfish -- she says it was a massive one. It took Sanders nearly an hour to reel it onto the shore before snipping the line, according to WSVN. She's also grateful for the crowd cheering her on and the experience.

“I’ve never really known a crowd before," Sanders says. "It kind of gave me more of the adrenaline to keep going, because I wanted to give up."

Smalltooth sawfish are only native to Florida waters and are considered a critically endangered species, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

This wasn't the first time the determined fisherman caught a sawfish. She revealed that she caught one a year and a half ago, except it took her over three hours to reel it in before setting it free.