How a Missouri Man Set a Sunfish Record All Thanks to a Cow

There are fish stories and there are FISH STORIES. This tale is that second one. It's how a Jefferson City, Missouri man just set a sunfish record and it was all because of a cow. You might want to sit down for this one.

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The Missouri Department of Conservation shared these two pictures on Twitter. They don't seem to go together yet they do. It's a record-tying sunfish and...a cow.

According to their press release, this sunfish was the prized catch of John Goad of Jefferson City, Missouri. John is a fly fisherman and says he wasn't catching much that day. Only around 1 fish every 10 times he cast.

So what's this about a cow?

John said his fishing luck changed when he was joined...by a cow.

“All the sudden, a yearling cow heifer came down to drink,” he said. “I moved down to give her space, and she crawls into the lake about belly deep. Then every cast, I caught a fish.”

One of the catches was a 5 ounce sunfish which doesn't sound like much, but that's big for a sunfish. It tied a state record.

“I was 5-years-old when I first caught a longear sunfish, so I’ve been after this for 70 years,” he laughed. “Catching a record is a really tough deal. For an old guy and a veteran, I’ve seen a lot of things, so I was excited about this record.”

Congrats to John and the heifer. It's not often you can attribute a record fish catch with a thirsty cow.