A young angler may have broken not only the New York state record for a sunfish, but possibly a world record.
Gregory Martin from Buffalo was out fishing on Oneida Lake when he hooked a pumpkinseed, another name for sunfish. The battle waged on for a few minutes, but for the young fisherman, it probably seemed like a battle from a Herman Melville novel.
Martin was finally able to pull in his catch with the help of his father.
The fish measured an impressive 11 3/4 inches long and weighed one pound and 13.7 ounces.
The current state record is one pound and 9 ounces. The title is shared by a fish caught in 1994 and in 2020. The international record for pumpkinseed is one pound 8 ounces.
“He’s five years old, he doesn’t realize what he really did. He wanted to go and cut it up and fillet it and eat it,” Martin’s aunt stated, according to New York UpState.
However, she insisted that they properly weigh it and have sent off paperwork for the official decision.
Story via New York UpState