He’ll need a bigger bowl.
After bringing in a nearly 70-pound behemoth goldfish — arguably the world’s largest — a UK fisherman became the envy of anglers everywhere. A Facebook post about a man’s life-changing catch is currently going viral.
The behemoth, aptly nicknamed The Carrot, was caught by Andy Hackett, 42, while fishing at Bluewater Lakes in Champagne, France, one of the world’s top carp fisheries, according to the Daily Mail.
“I always knew The Carrot was in there but never thought I would catch it,” Hackett, a Worcestershire-based company director, said of the would-be Goldzilla.
Not a goldfish per se, the Fanta-colored freak of nature is actually a hybrid species of leather carp and koi carp, ornamental fish commonly found in ponds. This particular specimen, which is reportedly 20 years old, was apparently introduced to the lakes 15 years ago “as something different for the anglers to try to catch,” Blue Water Lakes spokesperson Jason Cowler told USA Today.
“Since then it has grown and grown, but it doesn’t often come out,” he said. “She is very elusive.”
The Carrot had largely eluded capture until earlier this month when it was hooked by Hackett.
“‘I knew it was a big fish when it took my bait and went off side to side and up and down with it,” the angler recalled. “Then it came to the surface 30 or 40 yards out and I saw that it was orange.
“‘It was brilliant to catch it but it was also sheer luck,” added Hackett who spent a whopping 25 minutes reeling the monster in.
The Carrot tipped the scales at 67.4 pounds — which is 30 pounds heavier than what was previously considered to be the world’s biggest goldfish, which was caught by Minnesota resident Jason Fugate in 2019.
After landing his prize, Hackett posed for photos and released the critter back into the lake. The Brit then celebrated his colorful catch in an apt fashion by drinking a cup of tea.
“Congratulations to Andy on a great catch,” said Cowler, who reported that The Carrot is currently in “excellent health and condition.”
In a similarly miraculous catch in 2019, a Kentucky fisherman nabbed a 20-pound koi fish while using only a biscuit for bait.
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