The second shot was the allure for Frank Reynolds, a Missouri bowfisherman who arrowed the brand new state-record grass carp from his personal personal pond in early August. Reynolds’ report was made official Wednesday, slightly over three weeks after he harvested the whopper carp on Aug. 12. That wasn’t his first brush with the fish, although, and Reynolds informed officers with the Missouri Division of Conservation that he’d shot and misplaced the identical grass carp whereas bowfishing the day earlier than.
“I in all probability messed round for 10 or quarter-hour attempting to get him to shore, however he had a lot battle in him,” Reynolds informed the company in a press launch. “The arrow ended up pulling out and he took off throughout the pond.”
That was on Aug. 11. The very subsequent day, Reynolds returned to the small pond, the place he discovered the fish once more and redeemed himself.
“He nailed it proper within the head,” Reynold’s buddy Dave Tyree wrote in a Fb put up on Aug. 13. “A tremendous fish brother, we’re very, very pleased for you.”
Though it took him two arrows over two days to seal the deal, Reynolds informed MDC that he’d been after this similar grass carp for for much longer than that.
“I’ve been attempting to get this factor for years now,” Reynolds mentioned. “It’s simply been so skittish. It’s arduous to get shut sufficient with out him getting away or going underwater.”
Reynolds, who lives in Linn, defined that the state-record fish was one in every of 4 grass carp that he had stocked in his personal pond greater than 20 years in the past. And whereas there may be some controversy over whether or not stocked fish from personal water our bodies must be eligible for report standing, the MDC nonetheless acknowledges these catches as potential state data. (So does the Worldwide Sport Fish Affiliation, however Reynolds’ fish wouldn’t have been accepted by the IGFA anyhow as a result of it wasn’t caught with standard sort out.)
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After touchdown the fish, Reynolds knew he wished to weigh it however he didn’t have a scale that went over 50 kilos. So, he referred to as his buddy Dave Tyree, who introduced over his 300-pound scale to weigh the carp.
“After the preliminary weigh in on my scale I informed Frank you may need simply damaged the state report man,” Tyree wrote on Fb. “We then contacted Osage County conservation agent Katie Stoner and arrange an official assembly to get it weighed on a licensed scale … and it turned out my scale wasn’t off by a lot.”
Reynolds’ fish formally weighed 74 kilos 2 ounces and measured 48 inches lengthy with a 36-inch girth. It replaces the earlier state report, a 71-pound 4-ounce grass carp caught from Lake Showme in 1999.