With only 10 minutes left on the final day of his fishing trip, an Illinois teen hooked into a fish of a lifetime and wound up with a state record in Minnesota.
Brecken Kobylecky, 15, of Geneva was trolling on Basswood Lake with an Ely-based fishing guide when a huge northern pike hit his lure.
“We hooked onto a huge pike that was barely hooked, and could hardly land it due to the sheer size and weight of the fish,” Kobylecky told the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
“The whole experience went by in a flash, but it was an experience of a lifetime I’ll never forget.”
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The fish was measured, photographed and released.
The catch was made over the summer, but the DNR announced Wednesday that it had been certified as a state catch-and-release record at 46¼ inches. The previous record was a 45¼-inch northern pike caught on the Rainy River in 2018.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.