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South Florida Fisherman Reels In Rare Sawfish

BOYNTON BEACH (CBSMiami) -- A South Florida man has quite a fish tale to tell after he reeled in a whopper of a fish off Boynton Beach. It was an endangered sawfish.

The sawfish was caught by Dustin Richter and four of his fishing buddies on Sunday, May 25th.

"We got in close, and it didn't seem that big then we saw the entire fish, and then we saw the entire fish and saw it was huge, and the fight was on," explained Dustin.

A fight, Richter said, that lasted more than a hour.

"Oh my god it's a saw shark, that's the first thing I thought, the rarest species of all, we never even seen one in person, pictures or anything."

Sawfish are shark-like fish with a long, thin snout covered in razor-sharp teeth. The snout looks like a saw. They are endangered and it's very rare to catch one. They're usually found in shallow, coastal waters.

"He was just so powerful, just so strong of a fish, it's like he wasn't even hooked, he kept swimming out it was like he wasn't even on our line."

Richter and his friends let the sawfish go after bringing it to shore and filming a video.

"Just incredible that's the word I've been saying, it's like we are going to remember this for the rest of our lives."

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