Boys Share Fish Tale To Last For Ages: 'Pretty Proud Of Myself'

By Jeff Todd

EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4) - In the age of video games and apps, two boys in Evergreen love being outside and fishing more than anything else.

"It's so fun to just feel the reeling of this pole, hoping you're going to catch a fish each time you reel in," said 11-year-old Austin.

"We've been trying to catch these for like three years," said 13-year-old Bennett Russell.

On Friday, they caught a massive 40-inch long Tiger Muskie.

"It was my third cast, and it's a one in 10,000 percent chance of catching one," said Bennett. "I was like, Austin I got one, and he threw his shoes off and grabbed the net and jumped in the water within 3 seconds he was already waste deep in the water trying to put it in the net."

Austin says he was only 20 percent jealous, but knows Bennett couldn't have gotten the massive fish on shore without teamwork.

"If it wasn't for him we wouldn't have caught it, if it wasn't for me it wouldn't have been on land," Austin said. "I was like 'oh my gosh that thing is huge.'"

"It pretty much looks like a tiger. It's got stripes down the side of it," Bennett said. "And then it's got big teeth up to two inches long and teeth all along the roof of its mouth."

The fish was so big and it's sharp nose actually broke the net. But Austin was still able to get it out of the water.

Both boys took pictures with the fish, and while they're excited, they know it's not the prettiest picture.

"Yea, they're pretty ugly. A lot of people think they're ugly, they're pretty cool though," Bennett said.

The boys plan on fishing the rest of the summer, and Austin guarantees he's going to catch a Tiger Muskie for himself.

"I'm pretty proud of myself because these fish are so hard to catch that it's just crazy," Bennett said.

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.