ALEDO, Illinois — An Aledo fisherman broke a record in Canada while he was on an annual fishing trip with friends and family.
On July 12, 2019, Mark Dunn was wrapping up a week-long fishing trip in Ontario, Canada. The group was fishing for northern pike and walleye on the Winnepeg River near Kenora, Ontario. With a bluegill crankbait on the line, Dunn reeled in a fish that he wasn’t even casting for – a mooneye.
According to Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources, mooneye fish are typically between nine and 11 inches long.
Dunn’s catch measured up to a whopping 17 inches and weighed in at 2.019 pounds – a record.
Dunn received a certificate from the Ontario Record Fish Registry to verify his catch. The previous record stood at 1.94 pounds and 16.5 inches long.
The mooneye is a surface-feeder that isn’t normally one you’d find on your dinner plate, but Dunn says that’s OK with him.
“You know what, it’s a record fish,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me if it’s an edible fish or not.”
Record and all, Dunn said that hasn’t stopped his friends from taking the opportunity to poke some fun at him.
“All fisherman have the big stories and all that,” he said. “Here’s mine – a fish that you don’t even eat, that’s why I caught all the grief.”
Dunn hopes to get the fish mounted as a keepsake. His catch is set to appear in an issue of Ontario OUT of DOORS magazine.
