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Tue, Jun. 17, 2008 Belleville News-Democrat Serving southwest Illinois and the St. Louis region www.bnd.com
Giant fishing catch stalls friend's bachelor party; last cast hooks
 64-pound carp.
Jim Morrison was several hours late for his own bachelor party Saturday, but he had a good excuse.
Bryan Short, Morrison's fishing buddy and an usher in his upcoming wedding, hauled in a state record bighead carp from Horseshoe Lake in Granite City during the last few minutes of what they thought would be a tranquil morning of bass fishing before the raucousness that awaited them later in the day. |
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"We were actually a couple of hours late getting off the water," said Short, 24, of O'Fallon. "Jim was supposed to be home by 9 a.m., but when the fishing is good, it's hard to get off the water. I'm glad we stayed a little longer."
Short's last cast of the day produced the perfect alibi for their tardiness. Short landed a 64-pound bighead carp, a monster that took nearly an hour to get into the boat and shattered the old state record of 47 pounds, 12 ounces for the species, which was pulled from the Big Muddy River in Union County on May 20, 2005.
However, Short's catch will be recognized as the state record because he was using a rod and reel. Opel caught his while bowfishing, a form of fishing that doesn't qualify for state records. "They're both big accomplishments, but it's apples and oranges," said Fred Cronin, fisheries biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in Madison County. "It's two separate things. This is pretty neat. Brian didn't just break the record by a little bit -- he broke it by a whole lot. |
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"It surprised me that he landed it with a rod and reel. It didn't surprise me that he hooked it, but to land it and get it into the boat is quite a feat."
Fishing since sunrise in Morrison's bass boat, Short had caught six largemouth bass ranging in size from 2.5 pounds to 4 pounds. It was the first time Short -- who has fished since he was 5 -- had visited Horseshoe Lake. "Jim fished it prior and had some decent success," said Short.
"He said, 'Before the bachelor party, why don't we go to a local lake and see if we can't get something stirred up.' I was like 'Heck, yeah.' I never say no to going fishing."
Trolling over an area with a depth of 18 feet, Short decided to tie a deep-diving crankbait with a shad pattern to his baitcaster equipped with 12-pound test line before heading for the parking lot. Twice in a matter of 20 casts, Short had to cut his line for what he thought was a snag. On hindsight, he now believes it was two even bigger bighead carp, or the same one. "Just because of the feeding that was happening in the general area, I think so," Short said. "I can't confirm it, but it is kind of a coincidence that you have two break off, then you get this.
" The third time it happened, Short thought he was caught on a rock or stump. Then, whatever was hooked started taking his line. "When that happens, you know you have something decent," said Short, who hooked the fish in the upper lip with one of the larger crankbait hooks.
"I would have bet any amount of money that it was a big flathead catfish."
Fearful his thin line might break, Short and Morrison knew their best chance of landing the whopper was to let it wear itself out. So, for the next 45 minutes, the fish pulled the boat --which had its trolling motor on high -- and its occupants 200 yards in either direction. "With 12-pound test, there was no way I was going to pull it in," said Short. "I had to wait until it was just completely worn out. It was a slow and steady, hope-the-line-doesn't-break process."
Finally, the carp surfaced on the side of the boat. Morrison got the head of the fish in a net while Short grabbed the body and hoisted it into the boat.
"If somebody had a video camera, they would probably make some money on America's Funniest Home Videos," Short said. "It was a mess. It was almost like, 'Now what do we do?'"
The pair caught their breath, affixed the behemoth to a stringer and headed for shore. They went straight to Cronin and his crew at the DNR office. Cronin's research boat was equipped with a 44-pound scale, which bottomed out when Short's catch was weighed. Short packed the fish in $50 worth of ice in a bin until he could get it weighed on a certified scale Monday.
That's when Cronin told the 2000 O'Fallon High graduate he had the record. "It's both good and bad news," Cronin said.
"It's nice that he caught it, but this is an evasive, exotic species. This is not something we're wanting to see everywhere. We know that they are here in the lakes that have contact with rivers."
A project manager for a custom home-builder in O'Fallon, Short has been fishing since he was 5. He is vice president of the River King Bass Club, a small local club that holds tournaments on area lakes.
"It's awesome to get a record," Short said. "Of course, it's not a bass or anything like that, but at the same time, it's a pretty cool feeling to get something like that in on lighter tackle.
"You never know what you're going to run into when you go fishing. That's what keeps me going. I'm ready to get back out there and break my own record. It further fuels the addiction to go out and get another one. It's something that keeps me sane."
Short contacted Bass Pro Shop to see if it was interested in mounting the fish.
For now, he's storing it in a deep freezer in O'Fallon.
Contact reporter Rod Kloeckner at rkloeckner@bnd.com or 239-2663. |
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