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Stop the Presses, They Come in Threes!

I usually have an idea of what I am going to blog about for the next week or two.  But, what good would blogging be if you did not post the “hottest”, most recent, breaking information?

Most of you know that we have had a couple of notable state record fish caught in Nebraska the past two weeks.  First it was a big flathead catfish, then a big hybrid striped bass.  I was joking with my supervisor yesterday that fishing has gone down the tubes this week–no state records.  There goes my bonus (also a joke).

Then, after hours last night, my e-mail lit up again. . . .

Now, this fish was not a game fish, and it was not caught on rod and reel.  But, it was still a BIG FISH, and I know how folks LOVE big fish!  So, how about this:

StateRecordBigheadArcheryJune2020

HOLY COW!

OK, inevitably there will be some doubter grumble about the camera and position of the fish.  Just for you, here is another shot:

StateRecordBigheadArcheryJune2020c

Any way you hold that fish, it was big!  Eighty-one pounds, fourteen ounces big to be exact, and 52 inches long.

That fish was a bighead carp.  Avid bowfisher Richard Porter arrowed it last Wednesday.  He found it on a private sandpit in Dodge County.  It was a little more than two and a half pounds bigger than the old bowfishing state record for bighead carp.

Congratulations, Richard!

Wonder what else is swimming out there?  Wonder what it will be next week?  Better check the state record rules in the Fishing Guide, because you never know. . . .

EDITOR’S NOTE:  More to the story. . . .

I often remind folks to check the state records and to be familiar with the rules because you just never know.  Well, there is more to this story.  I have subsequently picked this up from FaceBook. . . . There happens to have been another bowfishing boat on the same sandpit, same day.  They also arrowed a HUGE bighead carp!

CouldaBeenBowFishingRecordBighead

Yes, the coloration of that bighead was unusual, but honestly, we see a lot of bigheads in standing waters, sandpits, that have that unusual golden coloration.  We suspect that it may be because those bigheads living in standing waters instead of in a river have a different diet?  Maybe the golden fish was in that pit longer?

The reason this relates is that fish was unofficially weighed at 82.5 pounds.  Had it been officially certified as a state record, we might have had dueling, bowfishing, state record bighead carp from the same sandpit, same day!!!

CrayCray

EDITOR’S NOTE #2:  The second bighead, the purdy orange one, ended up weighing in at 78 pounds 8 ounces.  That would not have been big enough to beat the old record, nor of course this new one, but it is still crazy that there were two bigheads of that size from the same pit, same day!

About daryl bauer

Daryl is a lifelong resident of Nebraska (except for a couple of years spent going to graduate school in South Dakota). He has been employed as a fisheries biologist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for 25 years, and his current tour of duty is as the fisheries outreach program manager. Daryl loves to share his educational knowledge and is an avid multi-species angler. He holds more than 120 Nebraska Master Angler Awards for 14 different species and holds more than 30 In-Fisherman Master Angler Awards for eight different species. He loves to talk fishing and answer questions about fishing in Nebraska, be sure to check out his blog at outdoornebraska.org.

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