ERIE, Pa. – Dennis Russian just might have a record catch. The 59-year-old from New Alexandria this week nabbed a monster fish – a 49-inch-long carp that unofficially weighs 54 pounds, 4 ounces.

“That’s the biggest fish I’ve ever seen pulled out of Lake Erie,” said Gary Heubel, owner of Poor Richard’s Bait and Tackle Shops, when asked to weigh the fish.

If the fish Russian shot with a fiberglass arrow weighs the same on state-approved scales, it would be a Pennsylvania record.

The record for the largest carp caught in the state was 52 pounds in 1962 in the Juniata River, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The state does not rank fish by length or girth, only by weight.

Russian said he planned on taking the carp home, “chop it up and feed it to the skunks and possum. It’s good for the ecology.”

For more information, click here.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR