Angler reels in creepy ‘living dinosaur’ from NY lake. See the record-breaking catch
A man broke a record when he reeled in a “living dinosaur” of a fish from a northwestern New York lake, officials said.
Chuck Zimmerman was fishing with his friends June 21 in Butterfield Lake in Jefferson County, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said in a July 12 Facebook post.
Zimmerman used swimbait to hook a “monster” longnose gar, officials said.
These fish are known as “living fossils” because they have stayed mostly the same for 150 million years, according to Yale University.
Zimmerman had the fish weighed on a certified scale, which read 15 pounds, 14 ounces, officials said, and it measured at 53.25 inches long.
His catch beat the 2018 record by over a pound, officials said.
Zimmerman kept the fish and didn’t release it back into the water, officials said.
Longnose gar have elongated bodies, thin snouts, needle-like teeth, olive brown or deep green coloring and silver-white bellies, according to the National Aquarium.
Officials said they are found in shallow weedy areas near the water’s surface.
“I saw one face to face as a kid while swimming near Morristown!” one person commented on Facebook. “Scarred for life! Creepiest fish ever!”
Jefferson County is about 80 miles north of Syracuse.
This story was originally published July 17, 2024 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Angler reels in creepy ‘living dinosaur’ from NY lake. See the record-breaking catch."
