A Nevada angler who has caught dozens of trophy-size carp over the past several months finally landed a record breaker.
But only after a marathon struggle and a commendable effort to ensure that the 35-pound, 3-ounce carp could be safely released after it was certified as the new state record.
Brenden Burnham, who was fishing Sunday afternoon at Virginia Lake in Reno, told For The Win Outdoors that he had failed to cast one of his baits where he wanted to, but left it in the water anyway.
Soon, his line began to twitch.
“I decided to pick the rod out of the rod holder and put a bit of tension on the line,” Burnham said. “As soon as I did the line just smoked off of the reel. There was absolutely no stopping the fish from going where it wanted to.
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“People started crowding around watching me battle this fish, as this is a park lake so gets pretty crowded.”
Burnham, 41, battled the carp for 45 minutes and had to wade far into the shallows to net his catch, which he believed rivaled the existing state record of 34 pounds, 10 ounces.
“I knew exactly what the previous state record was, so I knew what I needed the fish to be in order to beat it,” Burnham said.
While transferring the carp from a net to his carp cradle, used to keep fish immobile and submerged so they can eventually be released, he asked someone in the crowd to telephone the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
An agency biologist arrived to weigh and certify Burnham’s catch, then watched him set it free.
The NDOW announced the new record Monday via Facebook.
Said Burnham: “I had been trying for the state record and my good friends knew this. Just three days before I had caught five carp out of this lake which has never happened – I don’t believe – for anyone.
“The weights were 14 pounds, 17 pounds, 27 pounds, 29 pounds and finally 30.5 pounds. I knew the potential for the state record was there and, well, the rest is history.”
The Nevada Department of Wildlife considers carp weighing 15 pounds or more to be trophy class. Burnham said he caught and released 46 trophy-size carp in 2019, and six so far this year.
On Sunday he was fishing with 20-pound-test line. When asked to reveal what he used as bait, he respectfully declined.
–Images are courtesy of Brenden Burnham
