It might just be the biggest koi you’ve ever seen.
An 11-year-old boy who was out fishing at Lacombe Lake Park in St. Albert, Alta. earlier this week managed to reel in a 16-pound carp. The massive fish was about 76 centimetres long!
“It’s big!” said Luke Hebb, who caught the fish on Wednesday.
“I thought it was around 20 inches, and once I measured it officially, it’s 30 inches! So that’s way breaking my record.”
Hebb was fishing with his grandfather, Bob Aloisio, who is also an avid angler. Aloisio said the boy used a wiener as bait and after about 30 minutes, felt a tug at the end of his line. Hebb did all of the work to reel it in himself.
“He pulled and sliplined and kept coming around. And Luke had to run down… and brought that fish in from about 100 feet out there up to about 10 feet from the shore,” he explained.
“He got in and he wrestled that fish up over the bank by hand. That was quite the tussle because it was pretty lively.”
The pair said they came down to cast their lines in hopes of catching cray fish, but never expected to see what ended up on their rod.
“Koi that size don’t often bite,” Aloisio said. “You can’t come out and say you’re going to catch a koi. That can happen but it’s not something that happens every day.”
Watch below: An 11-year-old Alberta boy managed to reel in a 16-pound carp this week. Albert Delitala has more on the crazy catch.
While a surprising catch no doubt, invasive goldfish have been an issue in the community northwest of Edmonton for years. Because the species is not native to Alberta, the community believes people are dumping their fish from their home tanks.
It’s something the environmental co-ordinator for the area hopes will come to an end. Melissa Logan urges people to take their unwanted fish to a pet store.
“Do not flush your fish and do not release them to stormwater ponds, manmade lakes, and definitely not to the river.”
In 2017, about 45,000 goldfish — or two tonnes — were removed from the Edgewater Stormwater Facility and Ted Hole Stormwater Facility. Recently, an invasive Asian goldfish species was identified in Lacombe Lake Park, which the city said poses a threat to the natural aquatic ecosystems and other species in the Sturgeon River.
In hopes of dealing with the invasive species, members of Alberta Environment and Parks and the City of St. Albert will complete a chemical treatment of the lake to eradicate the fish.
From Sept. 4 to Oct. 2, a naturally occurring compound called rotenone will be used to get rid of the invasive fish.
“Rotenone is not harmful to humans, pets, wildlife or vegetation, and breaks down naturally after the application,” the city said in a media release.
While the treatment will wipe out some of the remaining rainbow trout in the lake, Logan said the body of water hasn’t been stocked for about two years and there aren’t many of the species left in the water. She said the lake will be restocked with rainbow trout next spring.
Watch below: St. Albert is battling an invasion. For many years, goldfish have been taking over bodies of water. On Wednesday, crews tried killing the fish which have proven very resilient and ecologically dangerous. Fletcher Kent reports.
Lacombe Lake Park will be inspected again in 2019 to evaluate the success of the program.
As for Hebb’s koi, the 11-year-old hopes to get a model made of the fish to keep in his room.