Chinook Salmon Caught by Pierre Children Nearly State Record

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Two children from Pierre narrowly missed a state record when they landed a chinook salmon weighing nearly 23 pounds, 6 ounces.

The Capital Journal reports that 9-year-old Matthew Coverdale and 8-year-old Grace Hanten caught the whopper in Lake Oahe on Friday. Matthew says that after two hours without any bites, "the rod went straight down."

It took the two children about 10 minutes to get the 34-inch-long fish close to the boat so it could be netted, with both of them helping hold the rod. Grace says, "We thought it was a keeper."

Had it weighed about 9 ounces more, it would have been a state record.

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