Man Reels in 'Near World Record' Lake Trout…Then Stares in Disbelief at His Catch

A father and son were ice fishing in Ontario, Canada, a couple weeks ago when they hooked a lake trout so large they were afraid they wouldn't be able to fit it through the hole.

"Is this the hardest fighting lake trout you've ever had?" the son filming the fish vs. fisherman battle asked.

"Yes, this is a 20," the fisherman said as the rod was bowed to such a degree it's a wonder it didn't snap. "Stay on their big boy."

Image source: YouTube

Image source: YouTube

"Oh this is a big fish," the father fisherman said later, shaking his head as he continued to work it in.

After they finally got it out of the hole, the lake trout measured in at 43.75 inches -- that's more than three feet long.

Image source: YouTube

The son filming the video laughed as his father, holding the gaff hook, just stared in disbelief for a moment.

"Can you believe this," the dad finally said.

Image source: YouTube

Watch the footage, which if you don't have time to watch the eight minutes of power struggle, skip to 0:7:37 to see the fish being gaffed and brought up (Content warning: strong language):

Anne Schaffer, who posted the video on YouTube, wrote in a comment that the fish was caught on a lake in Atikokan, Ontario.

The video description describes it as a "near world record lake trout."

According to FanSided, the men didn't throw the fish back but donated it to researchers.

(H/T: Reddit)