World record bighead carp

George Chance had no idea his day would turn from a good day of fishing to a record-breaking one.
On March 19, 2024, Chance was bank fishing on the Missouri River when he hooked into the fish of a lifetime.

What he initially thought might be a flathead because of its slow movement turned out to be an invasive bighead carp. After a 20-minute fight, the angler was able to get it to shore, where he realized it was a sizeable carp. He estimated it to be “50 or 60 pounds at least.”

The angler decided to take the fish to a nearby recycling center to have it weighed to find out for sure. To say his estimates were conservative is almost laughable. The fish tipped the scales at 97 pounds. Chance decided to call it in.

“They told me it was a state record, and I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’” he
said
. “Then later they said, ‘It’s not just a state record, it’s a world record!’ and I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ I had no idea this would happen when I woke up that morning.”

The previous state record was 80 pounds, with the world record set at 90 pounds. Chance’s catch shattered those
records
.

Bighead Carp: A Monster Invasive Species



Bighead carp


The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) confirmed Friday that George Chance of Festus, is a world and state record holder after catching a 97-pound bighead carp from the Mississippi River.







Chance's catch beats out the current bighead carp pole-and-line world record of 90 pounds, according to an MDC press release. The catch also also beats the previous pole-and-line state record, which was an 80-pound fish caught at the Lake of the Ozarks in 2004.

Chance was originally fishing for catfish when hooked on to the fish on March 19, according to the release. It is reported that he was fighting with it for about 20 minutes before getting it out of the water.

"The more I fought it, I saw it's tail and knew it was some type of carp. I was able to hook him with a hay hook in order to get him out of the water. It looked to be 50 or 60 pounds at least," Chance said. 

After getting the fish out of the water, Chance said he took the fish to a recycling center to weigh it, which ended up being the reason he called the conservation agent.

Chance's catch marks the third state record fish for 2024. 




This Fishing Guide Probably Just Broke His Own State Record with a Massive Bighead Carp




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A fishing guide in Oklahoma caught a massive bighead carp over the weekend that should replace the state record he set just two years ago. The record hasn’t been confirmed yet by state officials, and it’ll be a close call. The 118 pound 10 ounce carp outweighs the guide’s standing record by just seven ounces.

The guide, Bryan Baker, shared a Facebook post about his catch on Sunday. A photo of the affidavit form that accompanied Baker’s record submission shows that he snagged the fish Saturday afternoon from Grand Lake — the same waterbody where Baker caught his state-record bighead in 2023. That carp weighed 118 pounds 3 ounces, and it’s still listed as the state-record bighead carp on the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation website.



Speaking with
Outdoor Life
in May of that year, Baker said he hooked his fish with a snagging rig in 12 feet of water and had it to the boat in just six minutes. Baker, who runs Spoonbill Wreckers guide service, explained to OL how he uses forward-facing so



That is one big fish! I documented a 50-pound Bighead Carp caught at Wheeling 15-20 years ago.  None since.  They are very rare and I am not worried that they might become numerous in the next 10 or 20 years.  I would be concerned if there were numerous reports of smaller Bigheads indicating the potential for a reproducing population.  The presence of one very large and obviously old fish is not threatening to our native fish populations.

The above comments are by Frank Jernejcic, UMRA Member


As William Barr and Cory Craig cruised the waters of the Ohio River, bowfishing for carp and other rough fish, a world record was the last thing on their minds.

What a difference a couple of arrows can make.

Barr and Craig are now waiting eagerly to see if the 104-pound bighead carp they killed will be recognized as a new Bowhunting Association of America world record. As they wait, West Virginia fisheries officials worry the archers’ kill represents a larger-than-anticipated spread of an invasive species.

Bighead carp aren’t native to the Ohio. In fact, they aren’t even native to North America. They were imported from East Asia to the Mississippi River basin to help keep aquaculture