“The next day he drove the frozen fish to our Nebraska state fish hatchery in Valentine, about 25 miles from the lake,” Bauer tells Outdoor Life. “There, Zach Brashers, a facility fisheries manager, identified it as a common carp, weighed, and measured it.”
Hensel’s common carp measured over 40 inches long and weighed 39 pounds, 8 ounces. This replaces the previous Nebraska record for common carp, which was caught in May 2019 and weighed 34 pounds, 13 ounces. Angler Robert Busk caught that fish from a private pond in Washington County, and he was using a nightcrawler as bait, according to the NGPC fishing records book.
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“[Hensel told me] it was quite a struggle landing the fish,” Bauer said. “He asked a couple guys in a boat nearby to come to shore and help out and shoot a photo.”