Angler Andy Hackett caught one of the world's largest goldfish.
The gigantic orange specimen, aptly nicknamed The Carrot, weighed 30 kilograms (67 pounds, 4 ounces).
(CNN) --
After a 25-minute battle, British fisherman Andy Hackett caught a colossal carp, nicknamed "Carrot," which weighed a staggering 30 kilograms (67 pounds, 4 ounces). The giant fish is believed to be the second largest of its kind ever caught, according to BlueWater Lakes, the fishery in the Champagne region of France where the giant lives.
With its striking orange color, the huge goldfish-like creature easily stands out as it swims below the surface of the water.
Carrot, however, has proven challenging to catch.
Hackett caught the prized fish, a hybrid of a leather carp and koi carp, on November 3 while visiting the lake.
"With normal fish, you have a hard time seeing them if they're just below the surface, but Carrot is obviously bright orange so you can't miss it," Hackett told the BBC.
"It's a highly sought after fish, not many people have caught it, it's quite elusive."
BlueWater Lakes offers anglers a private spot to try to catch one of their many fish that weigh over 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms), and some even over 90 pounds (40 kilograms).
"We put up Carrot about 20 years ago as something different for customers to fish. Since then it has grown and grown but it doesn't come out often," Fisheries Manager Jason Cowler told the Daily Mail. "It's not the resident largest lake, but the most outstanding".
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After Hackett pulled Carrot up and weighed her, they released her back into the lake.
The fishery has a "no retention" rule, so fishermen never bring the fish ashore.
The BlueWater team also noted on their Facebook page that the fish are treated for any injuries before they are promptly released back into the water.
The fishery has monitored Carrot's growth quite often, with fishermen pulling it out nine times over the past season.
After breaking the 60-pound (27-kilogram) mark for the first time in February, the carp swam free for nine months until Hackett caught it.
Constantly growing goldfish
The average domestic goldfish weighs less than 500 grams (one pound), but the species can reach much larger proportions under different circumstances.
Given plenty of space, with the right diet and water conditions, carp species, including goldfish and koi, have the potential to grow very large, which explains Carrot's impressive size.
Often the largest goldfish found are unwanted pets that have been released into the wild by their owners.
Culled animals can have a negative impact on the delicate balance of a natural habitat.
Invasive goldfish the size of a football were found in a lake in Burnsville, Minnesota, in July 2021, prompting city officials to plead with residents not to release their aquatic pets into the lake, as that could harm the local environment.
"A 70-pound (31-kilogram) carp is a really big and impressive fish," said Dr. Zeb Hogan, a research biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a former host of "Monster Fish" on the National Geographic Channel.
"There are actually different types of carp that are relatives of the getting very large goldfish found in Europe and Asia, some of which can weigh around 500 pounds."
The growth seen in these fish is known as indeterminate growth, a condition in which the animals grow rapidly when young and continue to increase in size after reaching adulthood, according to Hogan.
"They just keep growing, the longer they live," Hogan said.
"It'll just keep growing and getting bigger, and maybe in a few years someone else will catch it and it'll be even bigger."
The fishing team said on Facebook that Carrot is "in excellent health" and could even live another 15 years or more.
"May her stardom continue for a long time," the team added.
