Biologists from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries recently caught a massive grass carp weighing almost 100 pounds in Lake Concordia. The catch surpasses the “all-tackle” world record set in Bulgaria in 2009 by four pounds and would have tied the current world record of the Bowfishing Association of America, set in Alabama in 2015.
The grass carp was measuring 49.5 inches long and weighed 92 lbs when it was caught on March 11 during a routine spring sampling of the lake. This is remarkable as the fish has never been seen before in Lake Concordia, as per the LDWF. Biologist Shelby Richard stated that the carp most likely migrated through Cocodrie Bayou and the control structure into Lake Concordia.
Grass carp are plant-eating fish that are native to Asia and have been utilized in the United States since the 1960s to manage aquatic vegetation in inland bodies of water. The biologists at LDWF will continue to monitor Lake Concordia to ensure that this invasive species does not cause harm to the ecosystem or other fish populations within it.
