An angler from Shoreham, Vermont caught a state record carp in Lake Champlain on May 20, according to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.
Darren Ouellette was bow-fishing for carp with Taylor Patterson in a backwater area of southern Lake Champlain when he spotted a very large carp cruising below the surface in some flooded trees. He took aim and arrowed the 44-pound, 6-ounce fish, then fought for over 20 minutes to haul it in on his fishing-modified compound bow.
"I knew it was a pretty big fish when I first saw it, but I didn't think it was as big as it turned out to be," Ouellette said.
His fish eclipses the previous state record carp by nearly two pounds. That fish was taken by bow-angler Jeremy Ballantine in May 2013 on the Connecticut River and weighed 42 pounds, 8 ounces.
The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has maintained the record fish program since 1969 to help monitor productivity of fisheries throughout the state and also to give anglers recognition for their catches. Ouellette's carp now stands as the single-heaviest fish ever entered into the program, of any species, in the 45 years of its existence.
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