Biggest goldfish ever? Man reels in a catch for the record books
Champagne, France - This Brit pulled the most memorable catch of his life when he reeled in a record-breaking golden carp!
Per the Daily Mail, Andy Hackett was angling at the Bluewater Lakes fishery in Champagne, France, at the start of November, when something big tugged on his line. Straight away, it was clear this had potential
"I knew it was a big fish when it took my bait and went off side to side and up and down with it. Then it came to the surface 30 or 40 yards out and I saw that it was orange," he said.
Orange and huge – so huge, in fact, that it might be the biggest goldfish ever caught.
Hackett struggled for 25 minutes to reel in the extraordinary animal. The aquatic giant, who was nicknamed Carrot, weighed in at a whopping 67.4 pounds!
Strictly speaking, Carrot is a cross between a leather carp and a koi carp. Most specimens are usually a shade of gray or brown, which makes her one of the most sought-after catches at Bluewater Lakes.
Owner Jason Cowler told USA Today that Carrot is "by far the most outstanding" resident of the fishery."
She's now 20 years old and will just keep on growing after Hackett released her back into her home waters.
Carrot a world record?
So is Carrot actually the biggest goldfish ever caught?
That depends on how you define "goldfish." If we're talking the tiny pets you usually find in fishbowls, those particular members of the carp family won't grow to anywhere near that size.
But if the emphasis is on the gold coloring, then the field of competitors broadens significantly.
Even so, Carrot is significantly heavier than another headline-making shiny fish, caught in 2019 by Jason Fugate in Minnesota: over 30 pounds heavier, in fact!
When it comes to all the fish in Bluewater Lakes, though, she wasn't even the heaviest carp caught that week!
The 92-pound Miggsys and 85.5-pound Peaches beat Carrot by a fair distance.
Cover photo: Facebook/Bluewater Lakes