On March 11, biologists from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) caught a massive grass carp in Lake Concordia that could have broken world records if it had been caught in a fishing competition. The carp measured 49.5 inches long and weighed 92 pounds, surpassing the “all-tackle” world record set in Bulgaria in 2009 by four pounds.
If caught in a competition, this fish would have tied the current world record set by the Bowfishing Association of America in Alabama in 2015. The LDWF reported that this catch was remarkable not only for its size but also for the fact that it was the first time a grass carp had been seen in Lake Concordia.
According to LDWF biologist Shelby Richard, the carp most likely migrated through Cocodrie Bayou and the control structure into Lake Concordia. Grass carp are plant-eating fish that are native to Asia and have been used in the United States since the 1960s to manage aquatic vegetation in inland bodies of water. The LDWF plans to continue monitoring Lake Concordia for more information about this rare species.