Angler bags 92 lb Bighead Carp while bowfishing

[Spiel]

Angler bags 92 lb Bighead Carp while bowfishing

 

Sat, May. 17, 2008

Belleville News-Democrat

 

Provided to the BND / Darin Opel, of Worden, has bowfished for 25 years, but this giant Asian carp is his biggest catch by far. Opel bagged the fish Sunday in a backwater on the Mississippi River near Alton.

 

 

While bowfishing for gar from the shore in backwater above the Melvin Price Lock and Dam No. 26 on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River near Alton, Darin Opel shot a 92.8 lb bighead carp with a compound bow and arrow. After fighting the behemoth for 10 minutes, Opel jumped into the muddy water, bearhugged the beast and inched him to the shore.

 

"It was real heavy, like lifting a refrigerator," said Opel, who ripped his jeans on the arrow sticking from the back of the carp's head during the ruckus. "Once he got out of the water, he started fighting hard. He beat me up pretty good. He definitely got a few licks in." Opel won the fight -- and the admiration of anglers everywhere who fantasize about landing a monster fish such as his trophy.

 

Weighed on a certified scale at Worden Food Market in Worden, the huge Asian carp had a 30-inch girth and measured 62" long. It obliterated the previous Illinois bowfishing record for bighead carp of 35.5 lbs set by John Borgers on June 8, 2006.

 

According to Duane Chapman, a fish biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey who specializes in carp studies, Opel's catch is the largest on record by a recreational fisherman in the Western Hemisphere. Chapman said there are only two bigger bighead carp on record in the world. A 93-pounder was captured in a reservoir in northern Texas a few years ago, but it was not caught by an angler and not weighed on a certified scale.

 

Chapman said a commercial fisherman in Pakistan landed a bighead carp that weighed more than 100 pounds several years ago. The fish now hangs in a museum in that country, where carp are revered. "Both of those were kind of oddballs," Chapman said. "Other than that, I don't know of any fish that are bigger than his that have been captured anywhere."

 

Tissue and bone samples are being sent to Chapman to be tested for age and origin. Chapman said he won't hazard a guess on the age of the record fish. "Any time you get something that's a contender for a world record, it's wild," said Opel, who has been bowfishing for 25 years. "A buddy told me I was just in the perfect place at the perfect time. Everything just came together.

[Greencoachdog]

Dunno if I'd consider that Angling...

[fishindevil]

Thats a great big monster no doubt !!!!...but,like glen said thats not angling ,can you imagine catching that fish on a rod & reel !!!!...the fight would be amaing and probly last a whole day or so ???. ..but shooting it with an arrow,and just hand balming it in isnt angling thats for sure,....oh well its still a huge carp thats for sure

[danbo]

Y'all better hope those freaks don't reach Lake Erie!