LINN  — Frank Reynolds has been hunting grass carp for the last couple of years, and after a near miss on Sunday, he finished the job on Monday, hauling in a 48-inch, 74.2-pound fish with a 36-inch girth that will likely be certified as a new Missouri record. The 1999 record is 71.4 pounds.

“We’re always watching for the big fin to rise above the surface,” said Reynolds, who arrowed the fish on Sunday through the side and then through the head on Monday. “I saw the two big carp fins on the surface, one to my right and the other to my left. I went for the one on the right, and I missed him by a foot.”

That arrow went into the water below the fish, which should have encouraged the other to flee. Instead, he stayed put. “He was far enough away that he just swam in place,” said Reynolds. “I adjusted my aim based on my first shot, and I hit him.”

Reynolds fought that carp for about 10 minutes, explaining he initially had not enough drag, allowing the fish to take off. “I got rope burn fighting that fish,” he added. “The carp pulled away from the arrow and went under.”

Bass, catfish, and carp were placed in the pond in 2002 by Reynolds’ neighbor, Kris Steinbeck. This fish was one of four two-pound carp purchased from Linn MFA. Carp typically have a life span of five to nine years, though, in a perfect environment, some have been known to live as long as 20 years. This one was 22 years old.

Kris and Frank have been neighbors since 2010.

Steinbeck was the first to bag a large carp from the pond — in 2018 — after a few years of bow-fishing experience on the Osage River. One day, after having no luck on the river, he went home to help Reynolds build his shop and saw the fins.

“I had been hunting this one for a while, and that day, I had to shoot it three times because the arrow kept coming out,” said Steinbeck, noting he did not anticipate the carp released in 2002 would live this long, let alone grow this big in a relatively small pond. “We add fish every few years to replenish the stock, and usually, they start dying off, but these just kept growing.”

His 2018 catch weighed 54 pounds. “That was the biggest I’d seen,” said Steinbeck.

On Monday, Reynolds saw the fish was near the surface. “Kris and I use the bow at various times, so we keep it near my workshop; I grabbed it and the carp didn’t move,” he explained. “He was just about a foot under the water there looking at me, and I shot him right through the head.”

Even that was not enough to kill the giant carp immediately. Instead, it fought for two or three minutes before Reynolds brought him to land.

“As soon as I saw that carp, I was excited because I thought it was probably a state record,” Dave Tyree, a friend of Reynolds, said, adding he routinely catches 15-20-pound carp all summer from the Osage River. “I remembered reading the stats, and I knew it would be close. When I realized how big it was, I knew I would need my big scale.”

Tyree hurried to the pond and hung the carp in Reynolds’ shop. “I was in awe,” said Tyree. “It’s much bigger in person than what I saw in the picture and a lot bigger than the one Kris got in 2018.”

He was all but certain the carp would set the new state record. “I told Frank he may never have another moment like this, and he started to get excited,” said Tyree.

Many evenings were spent in the company of friends hoping to arrow a carp created strong bonds between the families. Tyree lauded Reynolds in a Facebook post, saying, “Congratulations, Frank, on an amazing fish, brother. We are very, very happy for you, and we all have a great memory to celebrate with you guys.”

In an interview later in the week, Tyree said, “Frank didn’t realize what he had until we talked to the Conservation agent,” he added.

Reynolds was grateful for Tyree’s pursuit of the state record. “He did all the legwork,” Reynolds said.

Tyree contacted Osage County Conservation Agent Katie Stoner and set up an official meeting to get it weighed on a certified, registered scale.

“They have one at Linn MFA, so we agreed to meet there on Tuesday,” said Tyree. “We got there early and were itching to get it officially weighed.”

Stoner oversaw the process to ensure it was handled exactly the way an MDC biologist recommended. “We iced the carp overnight and then went to MFA the next morning,” said Tyree.

MFA Manager Micheal Rost weighed the carp on the certified scale at 74.2 pounds.

“I knew that if my scale was close, Frank was going to beat the record,” said Tyree.

For a minute, it looked like Reynolds had missed the record. A fin was caught on the frame of the scale so the initial reading was two ounces less than the state record. Once that was adjusted, the carp’s full weight was measured, topping the 1999 mark by almost three pounds.

“Sometimes, when you ice fish, you can lose a little weight,” Stoner said. “I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”

Stoner told the UD this week that while the carp appears to be a state record, the verification process will take time to complete. “I have no reason to believe it won’t be a state record,” she said. “A carp this size is pretty rare, and it’s a record that hasn’t been broken for 25 years. I have never seen a carp this big.”

Regardless, the certification process may take two or three weeks.

That didn’t matter to the guys. “We were running around high-fiving each other,” said Tyree. “We’re all very ecstatic for Frank.”

In the meantime, Reynolds is researching options to have the fish mounted. “I have plenty of places to put it,” he quipped.

Stoner said it appears the pond is evidently a great environment. “Carp only eat plant matter, and it wouldn’t have grown this much without access to plenty of nutrients. It’s perfect for them,” she added.

She noted the Department of Conservation promotes wildlife management in partnership with citizens. “We can help with land management and which plants work best,” Stoner added.

For more information, contact Stoner at 573-690-3989 or visit mdc.mo.gov.