First He Thought His Fishing Pole Was Stuck on the Bottom of the Lake. Then the Boat Started Moving Faster.

It was one for the record books: 140 pounds 9 ounces, 56 3/4 inches long and almost four feet in diameter.

Andy Belobraydic reeled the biggest fish that's ever been caught in Missouri. It happened as Belobraydic was fishing on Table Rock Lake Saturday, near the resort town of Branson.

"I told them 'I think I'm stuck on the bottom,' but then my pole thumped pretty good and the fish started pulling the boat," Belobraydic told the Springfield News-Leader.

"Man, I've never hooked anything like that. When it started peeling out that drag, we knew it was something big."

It took Belobraydic and two others in the 16-foot boat 30 minutes to haul in the massive paddlefish. Once they had it in the boat, they took it to a nearby fish hatchery, where the Missouri Department of Conservation used official scales to weigh it. Now, it's just a matter of some time and paperwork before the record is official, the News-Leader reported.

The previous record for the biggest fish ever caught in Missouri was set back in 2002. It was also a paddlefish caught in the same lake. It topped the scales at 39 pounds 4 ounces, according to KYTV-TV.

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(H/T: KYTV-TV)

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