Carp Fisherman Breaks His Own State Record

A fishing guide in Oklahoma caught a massive bighead carp over the weekend that should replace the state record he set just two years ago. The record hasn’t been confirmed yet by state officials, and it’ll be a close call. The 118 pound 10 ounce carp outweighs the guide’s standing record by just seven ounces.

The guide, Bryan Baker, shared a Facebook post about his catch on Sunday. A photo of the affidavit form that accompanied Baker’s record submission shows that he snagged the fish Saturday afternoon from Grand Lake — the same waterbody where Baker caught his state-record bighead in 2023. That carp weighed 118 pounds 3 ounces, and it’s still listed as the state-record bighead carp on the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation website.

Speaking with Outdoor Life in May of that year, Baker said he hooked his fish with a snagging rig in 12 feet of water and had it to the boat in just six minutes. Baker, who runs Spoonbill Wreckers guide service, explained to OL how he uses forward-facing sonar to pinpoint big carp in the muddy lake. He then casts at them using a heavy-duty snagging rig with a 10/0 treble hook and 100-pound braid.

Because bighead carp are considered an invasive species in Oklahoma, Baker said he targets them often when he’s not going after paddlefish, his main target. During one day alone in May 2023, he snagged 11 bigheads, each pushing 100 pounds. 

ODWC hadn’t made any announcements about Baker’s new bighead carp record as of Monday morning, but that process can take some time.

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Baker also referred to his fish as “possible new world record” in his Facebook post, as did the Tulsa-based news outlet, News On 6. And while it’s possible that Baker was referring to a different record-keeping organization, his catch won’t qualify as a world record under the eyes of the International Game Fish Association, because the IGFA does not accept snagged or foul-hooked fish into its record books. The current all tackle world-record in the IGFA books is a 97-pound bighead carp caught from the Mississippi River.