A fisherman got a surprise after reeling in a massive, 20-pound “goldfish” from a Kentucky pond over the weekend.
Hunter Anderson, an avid fisherman, was out with his girlfriend on Saturday when they decided to stop off at a pond that’s known to have koi and goldfish.
Anderson, who works part-time at a tackle shop, explained to WKYT that he grabbed a rod from this car and used a piece of a biscuit he had from a restaurant earlier in the day.
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“Believe it or not, we ate at Lee’s earlier in the day, and I took a piece of a Lee’s biscuit and put it on a hook, threw it out there and that fish ate it,” Anderson said.
Sure enough, the massive fish took the bait, but wasn’t going to go out with a fight.
“This fish was different. It was one of the hardest fighting fish I’ve ever fought,” Anderson said. “It never ever wanted to give up. I’m lucky I got it in. But I did and I was screaming and jumping up and down as I had never seen anything like it.”
Of all of the fish Anderson has caught in his life, this one takes the bait as the “strangest.”
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“I don’t know if it’s the biggest goldfish I’ve ever caught or koi fish I’ve ever caught,” Anderson told the news station. “It’s definitely the strangest fish I’ve ever caught.”
The man’s sister shared a photo on social media showing Anderson holding the almost-grotesque fish, joking it was her pet fish she flushed down the toilet as a child.
“This is my brother!! Who is holding what could possibly be…that pet goldfish we flushed when I was 9!” Cassie Anderson said. “I swear, I thought you were dead, Bubbles!”
As for the fate of the fish, Anderson tossed it back in the water because “it deserved to swim another day.”
“Maybe somebody else will catch it. Maybe a kid will catch it and be as happy as I was,” Anderson said.