RURAL RETREAT (WSLS 10) - A Rural Retreat high school student caught a fish so big, there were no scales available locally to weigh it.
Saturday evening, 17-year-old Harley Mitchell was fishing from a boat with friends inside the 90-acres of Rural Retreat lake when he hooked what may have been a state record fish - a grass carp measuring nearly 4.5 feet in length.
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The Virginia Tourism Corporation named Wythe County's Rural Retreat Lake as one of the Commonwealth's "13 Favorite Campgrounds," and the enormous catch is being touted as proof.
According to Mitchell, it took him more than 25 minutes to reel the fish in. He and his friends had their pictures taken with the carp and measured the fish, documenting its length to be 52.5 inches.
If their measurement is correct, the fish at Rural Retreat Lake surpasses the largest documented catch of a grass carp in the entire nation. According to
LandBigFish.com
, the nation's top grass carp was caught at West Virginia's Warden Lake in 2005 and measured only 50.75" in length.
Officials from the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries said grass carp were introduced to the lake nearly 20 years ago as a means of controlling weeds. Despite the fact that grass carp eat up to three times their body weight each day, the fish can be extremely difficult to catch due to their vegetarian habits and skittish nature.
Rural Retreat Lake is managed by the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries and the campground is managed by the Wythe County Department of Parks & Recreation. The lake has a healthy population of muskies, northern pike and large-mouth bass. Individuals interested in making camping reservations at the Rural Retreat Lake may call (276) 686-4331.