A Tennessee angler reeled in the fish of a lifetime last weekend. Robert Livingston was fishing Cherokee Lake with a buddy in frigid 40-degree weather when he felt something bite his hook. Initially, he thought it was a catfish and when the line went slack he thought he’d lost the fish. But then a flash of light revealed the gargantuan paddlefish.
What’s wild is you can’t really target these fish with a rod-and-reel. I guess you can but these fish are normal filter feeders and don’t bite hooks so you’re hoping to snag a fish at some point. According to 10 News WBIR, Robert and his fishing buddy were spotting some massive fish on their fish finger but they weren’t biting. The fish that were nibbling were all tiny. It didn’t make sense. And then it all happened in an instant:
“I set the hook on it and start reeling and the line goes slack. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, whatever it is came off,’” Livingston said.
That’s when he…