A father-and-son fishing trip ended when the pair found a record-breaking beast that is
older than the dinosaurs
.
Keith Dees and his son Huntley were on their annual fishing trip in Mobile-Tensaw Delta, Alabama, USA.
They had already caught several redfish and bass before Dees caught something
much bigger, the
Daily Star
reports .
He said in a Facebook post: "At around 1130 we decided to fish one more spot. I cast one cast and about half way back to the boat my rod went tight."
It took them around two hours of fighting to get the fish to the boat (Facebook/keith.dees.37).
He added: "I reeled in as fast as I could, catching it just before I saw a big fish swimming by my trolling motor. I had no idea what it was until it surfaced after about 30 minutes."
Keith Dees and his son Huntley with their monster catch (Facebook/keith.dees.37).
Speaking to
Outdoor Alabama
, the official website for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Dees said he initially thought it was just another redfish
.
"We would laugh and joke about what he had," he said.
"Then I thought it might be a big black drum."
They have lived for 100 million years.
It took him about
two hours of fighting
to get the fish to the boat.
It wasn't a redfish or a drum, but a long-proboscis gar, a scary-looking freshwater fish that dates back
more than 100 million years
(35 million years before the last dinosaurs died out).
Worried his rod would break, it took Dees and his son
three tries
to get a rope around the fish's head to drag it into their boat, the
Daily Star says.
Proboscis gars get their name from their long snouts, lined with razor-sharp teeth (Facebook/keith.dees.37).
The fish was officially weighed in at Orange Beach Marina and tipped the scales at 162 pounds
(74 kilos)
, breaking the previous Alabama state record by 11 pounds (5 kilos).
Dees had to call the Department of Conservation to see if they were allowed to keep the fish, which he planned to eat, and permission was granted.
The fish weighed in at 162 pounds (74 kilos), making it an Alabama state record (Facebook/keith.dees.37).
Proboscis gars are among the largest freshwater fish in North America, and are known as "living fossils" for having retained some of the characteristics of their prehistoric ancestors, the
Daily Star reports.
They get their name from their long snouts, fringed with razor-sharp teeth.
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