ALBANY — Holy carp! A SUNY Cobleskill student reeled in a massive fish at the city's Washington Park Lake this week.

Julian Canavan said he caught the 38-pound, 41-inch common carp on a fly fishing rod on the afternoon of Sunday, June 30, after a 40-minute fight.

"It was overcast and rainy that day, which to me means ideal fishing conditions," said Canavan, who studies fisheries and aquaculture at Cobleskill.

He had gone to the city park with his 5-weight fly rod to catch bluegills, which he planned to use as bait later on the Hudson River. But as he was casting into the lake, Canavan said, "I saw a large fish splashing under a willow tree."

He walked over to investigate and saw five carp, all more than 3 feet long, and a few large koi.

"They were aggressively feeding on insects that were along out of the tree so I tied on a Chernobyl Ant fly, which mimics a flying ant landing on the water, (and) twitched it a few times," Canavan said. At first, a koi tried to bite but Canavan moved the fly toward a massive carp instead.

"He rose on the surface and took the fly without any hesitation and I set the hook and held on," Canavan recalled.

"The fish took seven to eight runs, each of which put me into my backing," he said. "It also got me snagged in just about every tree branch and reed grass plant nearby. I had to go into the pond to land the fish."

At the first opportunity, Canavan grabbed the fish and lifted it out of the water with two hands, one under its belly.

"As I went to remove the hook from its mouth, it snapped in half," he said. "I got really lucky with this fish."

A shocked passerby helped Canavan take some photos.

"It was released back into the water to be caught again by some lucky fishermen," Canavan said.

"Carp are my favorite species to catch," he added. "They are big and fight harder than bass and are readily available in most bodies of water. They also can be a challenge to catch in most cases and I will always release them. It fills me with excitement to know that Washington Park of all places has fish of this caliber."

He said he has loved fishing since he was a young child and also likes to cast into the Central Park Lake in Schenectady.

"I think it's important to show people what amazing fishing resources we have in the Capital Region, that are right in our backyards," Canavan said.

The state record for carp is a 50-pound, 6-ounce, fish caught on May 12, 1995, in the Tomhannock Reservoir in Troy by Charles Primeau Sr., according to the DEC.

Anyone older than 16 must have a valid fishing license to fish in New York. Learn more about state rules and regulations in the DEC's 2019 Freshwater Fishing Digest.

Click through the slideshow above to see other big fish caught in the Capital Region.

Have a freshwater fish photo you want to share? Send a .jpg file to submit@timesunion.com and include your name and hometown, the type of fish, its weight and/or length, plus when and where it was caught.