toddyboman Posted May 9, 2008 Report Share Posted May 9, 2008 Saw this on the new last night...:eek::eek: Possibly Worlds Largest Carp Caught In The Mississippi Last Edited: Friday, 09 May 2008, 9:19 AM CDT Created: Thursday, 08 May 2008, 9:35 PM CDT Big Fish FOX 2's Teresa Woodard reports from Alton:Related Items Videos Links By Teresa Woodard (KTVI - myFOXstl.com) An Illinois man has a whale of a tale from the mighty Mississippi. He caught a 92 pound 8 ounce, 62 inch carp on Sunday near Alton. It's possibly the largest carp ever caught by a recreational fisherman anywhere in the world. It's definitely the largest carp ever caught with a bow and arrow. "I'm just like, 'Fish!'" screams Darin Opel, recalling the second he realized the large object other fishermen thought was a log, was a giant carp. "And I pulled back and shot." "And then all of a sudden, boom, there went my line going out, and I'm like well I got something on here." He had no idea what he had until he got it about five yards of the bank. Then he realized he was going to have to go in and get it. "It was like one of those instantaneous things," says Opel. "I threw the bow down and in the water I go. And I grabbed him by the gill; bear hugged him and started fighting him against the rocks." The other fishermen just stood and looked in awe. "'Oh good Lord, oh good Lord,' they said. I heard that 500 times. I was kind of hoping to hear, 'You need some help?' You know, but I didn't hear that one, you know." Opel's six foot four inch, 300 pound frame struggled, but got the fish under control. He caught the carp near the Alton Marina. He took it to a market in his hometown of Worden and had it weighed on a certified scale. "They're saying they think it's the new world record for sportsmen," says Opel. "It's 62 inches long, 30 inches around, 92 and a half pounds." "It looks like a little monster." A fish biologist from the U.S. Geological Survey told FOX 2 this is definitely one of the largest carp ever caught in recent history. But it's difficult to know yet if it is the record. It's definitely the largest ever caught with a bow and arrow, says Opel. "The Illinois state record for carp was 35 pounds before this," he says. "I beat that by almost 55 pounds. It beat the bow fishing world record by 15 pounds." Opel is now acting like a proud papa, showing off pictures. But his baby is a freakishly big carp. "This arm still has a cramp in it from holding it up and taking pictures," he says. "I can assure everybody it's bigger in real life than it is in the photos." Opel has caught thousands of fish with his bow and arrow - but he's never eaten one. He's allergic. http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=3C60971D153BFF1B81B6CDC7C53F3D5D?contentId=6499411&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccwhitey Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 :eek::eek: OMG!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 Dude!!!!! :eek::eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 woooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 I thought I've caught some big carp but ummm yea that's big-g-g-g-g-g. LOL - Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyohunter Posted May 10, 2008 Report Share Posted May 10, 2008 dats a monster:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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