(WKYT) – Fishing stories are notorious for being prone to exaggeration, but one Danville man says his big catch over the weekend is for ‘reel.’

Hunter Anderson works part-time at a bait-and-tackle shop, so you know he’s heard his fair share of fishing stories – and as an avid fisherman himself, he admits he’s even told a few. But Anderson insists this one is no story.

“There’s no faking that kind of fish,” Anderson said. “It was crazy.”

Crazy? How else could Anderson describe what he believes is a 20-pound goldfish or koi fish?

He certainly didn’t expect it. Anderson said he and his girlfriend were driving back from Frankfort over the weekend when they decided to stop at a private pond in Boyle County where they knew there used to be some goldfish or koi fish. They had a pole in the car that they decided to bait and drop in the water.

“Believe it or not, we ate at Lee’s earlier in the day, and I took a piece of a Lee’s biscuit and put it on a hook, threw it out there and that fish ate it,” Anderson said.

As you might imagine, the fish put up quite a fight before Anderson was able to reel it in, he said.

Anderson says he has fished his whole life, learning from his father ever since he first could hold a rod and reel. He competes in fishing tournaments and was also on EKU’s bass fishing team at one point. But despite the big fish he’s seen and caught, he calls this the strangest he’s seen – and he wonders if it may be a record.

Anderson’s sister posted on Facebook a picture of him holding the fish, with a caption jokingly wondering if the fish in question could be a pet goldfish they flushed down the toilet as kids. The photo has hooked a lot of folks’ attention on Facebook – getting more than 1,000 likes and nearly 2,000 shares as of Monday evening.

“I guess people have just never seen anything like it,” Anderson said. “I know I haven’t.”

Still, Anderson made sure to put his trophy fish back in the pond.

“What am I going to do with it, really?” Anderson said. “I thought it deserved to swim another day.

“Maybe somebody else will catch it. Maybe a kid will catch it and be as happy as I was,” he said. “I was jumping for joy.”