This ain’t your average state fair goldfish you win for knocking over all the milk jugs with a baseball…
I’ll admit, this is so wild to process it feels like it can’t even be real, but it is.
A United Kingdom man reeled in a near 70-pound dinosaur of a goldfish, which could potentially be a world record.
42-year-old Andy Hackett was the lucky angler to reel in the beast that was nicknamed The Carrot, while fishing Bluewater Lakes in Champagne, France, one of the world’s premier carp fisheries, according to the Daily Mail.
Hackett, who is a Worcestershire-based company director, weighed in on the catch:
“I always knew The Carrot was in there but never thought I would catch it.”
Aside from the noticeable comparisons to a goldfish, the fish isn’t actually a goldfish, as it’s a hybrid species of leather carp and koi carp, which are typically found in ponds.
This jumbo-sized fish is apparently 20-years-old, and was introduced to the lakes 15 years ago.
Blue Water Lakes spokesperson Jason Cowler told USA Today that it was an opportunity for fishermen to fish something unique:
“Since then it has grown and grown, but it doesn’t often come out. She is very elusive.”
Hackett continued:
“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. It was brilliant to catch it but also sheer luck.”
It took the angler 25 minutes to reel the monster in.
The Carrot officially weighed in at 67.4 pounds, 30 pounds heavier than the current goldfish world record, which was originally caught by Minnesota resident Jason Fugate back in 2019.
Hackett posed with the massive goldfish for a few pics, and threw Carrot back in the water. And of course, he celebrated with a cup of tea as the Brits do.
Whatta time.
