Chaos erupted near the Branson Landing this afternoon when a group of local fishermen hooked and fought one of the biggest fish ever seen in Missouri waters — a monstrous 22-foot brown trout estimated at over 5,000 pounds.
The anglers were fishing just off the Branson Landing docks when one of them felt an enormous strike. “It was like hooking the side of a house,” one said. The fish dragged their boat around for nearly an hour, nearly pulling them into the main channel and drawing a huge crowd of tourists watching from the boardwalk.
When they finally got the giant to shore, it took all five men to lift the beast out of the water for photos. “My arms are done,” one laughed while still holding part of the tail. The fish was so heavy and long its belly sagged as they struggled to hold it up.
The catch has already drawn huge crowds at the Landing. Some people were snapping selfies with the trout, others were joking it must have been eating the ducks and geese that disappear from the lake every year. One tourist from Kansas City said, “I came for the shows, not to see a dinosaur get pulled out of Taneycomo!”
Missouri Department of Conservation officials arrived quickly and are examining the giant trout. They confirmed it’s a brown trout but had no immediate explanation for how something this size ended up in the lake.
Photos and video of the men barely able to hold the 22-foot monster are blowing up online. The fish is so big it barely fit in the frame.
The fishermen say they’re planning to have it mounted — if they can find a taxidermist with a big enough shop. This is one catch people around Branson will be talking about for years.