Record black carp caught at Bonnots Mill

By Neal A. Johnson, UD Editor
Posted 3/17/21

Jesse Hughes, of Bonnots Mill, was originally angling for catfish with friends March 4 when he hooked into what is likely a world-record 112-pound invasive black carp in the Osage River at the …

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Record black carp caught at Bonnots Mill

Posted

Jesse Hughes, of Bonnots Mill, was originally angling for catfish with friends March 4 when he hooked into what is likely a world-record 112-pound invasive black carp in the Osage River at the Bonnots Mill Conservation Access.
"We hooked into it and knew it was something big, but I originally thought it was a catfish," Hughes said in a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) news release. "It was the first I'd heard of a black carp. I didn't know anything about it, so this has been quite the learning experience."
Hughes, who grew up in Westphalia but has spent a lot of his life on the Osage River near Bonnots Mill, was using chicken breast marinated in strawberry Jello, which resembles the carp’s primary diet, native mollusks, many of which are critically endangered.
However, Hughes said he learned later that the carp, a female, was most likely bottom-feeding and realized too late that it wasn’t a mussel and tried to spit it out.
“I just happened to set the hook at the exact right moment,” said Hughes. “I hooked her in the lower lip instead of further down toward the gills.”
This is just one element of an amazing sequence that makes this one of the luckiest hauls of all time.
First, Hughes and his buddies, Bo Jaegers and Brent Luebbering had an urge to fish. “It wasn’t planned,” said Hughes. “We just decided it was a nice day and wanted to go fish the Missouri.”
That river was a little too rough, however, so the boys decided to stay close to home, and Hughes threw his line out some 500 yards upriver from the access.
“We were only on the river for about a half-hour when the carp struck,” said Hughes. “It took 30 or 35 minutes to haul it in.”
Remember the bait? Hughes said a freezer had gone bad, leaving this Jello-marinated chicken breast to go bad, so he decided to use it, thinking he would attract some blue or channel cat with a 50-pound test line on a rod-and-reel.
When the carp was close enough, an attempt was made to land it with a net. When that failed, the boys used grips but they too were inadequate.
“Finally, Brent decided to go after it with his bare hands,” said Hughes. “He got his hand in the gill and hauled her in the boat. It was quite a fight, and I’m glad my buddies were with me.”
Osage County MDC Agent Chad Gray said the carp appeared to be of average size for an adult of the species but that determination will be made by the U.S. Geological Survey, which is studying it.
“There’s an ear bone in all fish and they can look at it under a microscope,” said Gray. “Like rings on a tree, they can use the ear bone to determine the age of the carp.”
Hughes said the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has already confirmed on its website that this is the largest black carp caught with a rod-and-reel. The largest prior to this was caught in Japan and weighed 40 pounds.
“I had to send in a lot of paperwork and they’re testing the line to make sure it meets their standards, but I was told this is a world record, which just blows my mind,” he said.
Hughes was reluctant to let the big catch go.
"It's a little disappointing, as I don't think I'll ever catch a fish that big again," he joked. "But at least it's one less invasive fish in Missouri waters."
Hughes noted he’s caught 25-pounders using a rod-and-reel and the biggest trotline catch was a 68-pound catfish but that was in the Missouri River.
“This is definitely the biggest fish I’ve ever seen come out of the Osage,” he added.
Gray added that it’s rare another black carp of that size will be caught in this area. “With the number of anglers we have here in Osage County, we’re not getting calls about black carp,” he said.
All in all, Hughes said every part of this experience came down to luck.
“That’s all there is to it,” he said. “We weren’t fishing for carp, and I used the wrong bait, and still managed to haul this thing in. It’s a great experience.”
Black carp are invasive fish from Asia that eat mussels and snails, according to the MDC, and have been found in the Mississippi River system, including the Osage River, where, in 1994 about 30 reportedly escaped from a fish farm during a high-water event and entered that river.
Most of the black carp in the United States were introduced to control problematic snail populations in commercial fisheries, and these fish are presumably sterile, according to the MDC. But fertile fish can be present, too. Given that black carp can live for 15 years, even sterile fish can present a long-term problem for native mollusk populations.
The MDC has listed black carp on the Prohibited Species List — a list of species that may not be imported, exported, transported, sold, purchased, or possessed alive in Missouri without the written approval of the director.
"If anglers happen to catch black carp, or any invasive fish, while fishing in Missouri waters, it's imperative to contact their local conservation agent," MDC Fisheries Programs Specialist Andrew Branson explained in a news release. "That way, our fisheries staff can be notified and monitor the spread of these destructive species."
Black carp appear similar to the common grass carp, but the black carp is darker, and some report the adult black carp have a relatively narrower snout. It also has large pharyngeal teeth, or throat teeth, that resemble human molars. These teeth are used to crush the shells of mollusk and prey.
Anyone who hooks into a potentially invasive fish is encouraged to contact the MDC for verification.
For more information on black carp, visit the MDC website at short.mdc.mo.gov/ZRa.