A new world record? Oklahoma man snags a ‘monster fish’ as large as a keg of beer

He admits he may not even be the best fisher in his household, but James Lukehart may have just put his name in the record books with a crazy snag.

Lukehart caught a “possible new world record paddlefish” Sunday at Keystone Lake in northeastern Oklahoma, according to the state’s Department of Wildlife Conservation. Dubbed a “monster fish,” it weighed 146 pounds and 11 ounces, and measured 70.5 inches in length with a 45-inch girth, the state department said.

His big catch bests the previous world record “by more than 2 pounds,” officials said.

Lukehart called the spur of the moment fishing trip one of the best days in his life.

“I’d have never believed if anyone said this small town kid from Apache, Oklahoma would ever make the record books for anything!” he said on Facebook.

The fish also broke the Oklahoma state record by 3 pounds and 11 ounces, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Its weight is nearly as large as a beer keg, which weighs around 160 pounds.

Lukehart said they let the fish go back in the lake so someone else has a chance to catch it.

“The best part about this is that I have a wife that is absolutely in love with the outdoors as much as I am and wants to go on these types of adventures with me,” he said. “It’s known that she is the best fisher in the house, but she let me catch one bigger than hers today so she could stop hearing me complain about her always catching the biggest fish!”

A member of the state’s Paddlefish Research Center certified the weight and measurements before helping release it, according to Tulsa World.

Lukehart’s wife caught an 82-pound paddlefish Sunday. The couple also brought home a 55-pound fish “and put it on the smoker for dinner,” he told Tulsa World.

This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "A new world record? Oklahoma man snags a ‘monster fish’ as large as a keg of beer."