A fishing trip on Cherokee Lake over the weekend proved to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an East Tennessee man - when he reeled in a massive, potentially record-breaking American paddlefish.
A report by 10 News said a friend invited Robert Livingston to go fishing on Saturday, and although the sonar was revealing big fish, it seemed only small ones were biting.
The windy, 40-degree weather had them ready to pack up and leave, when 10 News reported that “Livingston’s line went out ‘screaming.’”
10 News cited Livingston, who said: “I set the hook on it and start reeling and the line goes slack. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, whatever it is came off.’”
And then he saw his bright orange line “come right back to him and up to the boat,” the report said.
At first, they thought it was a catfish, but instead it was a paddlefish, also known as a spoonbill, which is normally a filter-feeder. So, Livingston said it’s rare to catch these fish on a hook, the report noted.
10 News cited Livingston, who said: “You can only catch them by accident unless you snag them. “This one, it just swam by and caught my hook right in the corner of its mouth.”
Livingston added, “It was barely hooked, just a small portion of its cheek. Get it in the boat and I grab it and the hook actually falls out into the water.”
After struggling for a few minutes, the report said the two fisherman were able to get the huge fish into the boat for a picture, noting that according to Livingston, “he could barely stand just to get the picture with it.”
Although he wasn’t willing to let the fish die in order to bring it to shore for measurement, and had no way to measure the fish in the boat, the report noted that Livingston said it certainly “felt like a record-breaking catch” when the two fishermen were trying to pull it into the boat.
In terms of measurements, Livingston estimated the fish was at least 150 pounds, the report said, based on the fact that he can lift 150 pounds over his head at the gym. The fish stretched all the way across his friend’s 72-inch-wide boat. Livingston said it was roughly 6 feet long.
It’s still out there, waiting for another lucky fisherman.
10 News cited Livingston, who said: “People keep dogging me for not taking it home, and the people who are avid fishermen are like I did the right thing,” He added, “I would hate to catch the fish of a lifetime and then say, ‘Yeah, I killed it.’ It’s there swimming around so maybe one day somebody else will catch it.”
10 News reported that according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Tennessee state record paddlefish was 104 pounds and was also caught in Cherokee Lake. The world-record-holding paddlefish was caught in Oklahoma and weighed in at more than 151 pounds.
The fisherman wants to thank his wife.
10 News noted that Livingston says “a special thank you to his wife for allowing him to go on this fishing trip while she stayed at home to take care of their five children.”
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The Link LonkJanuary 26, 2021 at 11:38PM
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East Tennessee man reels in fish of a lifetime - a potential record-breaker: video - pennlive.com
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