Fisherman In Middle Of Lake Makes An Adorably Unexpected Catch

Brett Hereford was out fishing on a lake in Montana with his family earlier this month when he made the catch of a lifetime.

But what he caught wasn’t actually a fish at all.

According to reports, while the Herefords were far from shore in a boat on Flathead Lake, they noticed a figure in the water ahead of them and decided to move in for a closer look. That’s when they found something unexpected: a bobcat, struggling to stay afloat.

Rather than leave the animal to try and make it back to dry land on his own, the Herefords stepped in — Brett scooping up the exhausted bobcat in a fishing net.

Here’s video taken moments after the bobcat’s life was saved:

Though it's unclear exactly how the bobcat had gotten into that watery predicament, things may very well have ended in tragedy had the Herefords not come along.

“They believed that if they didn't net it, it was going to drown,” Cindy Benson, who spoke with the Herefords afterward, told The Missoulian. “It looked really tired."

Fortunately, however, this "fish tale" has a happy ending.

The Herefords did not respond to The Dodo’s request for an interview, but in a comment online, Brett’s father later wrote that the bobcat was carried back to dry land and safely released — thus concluding a day on the lake the Herefords are likely to never forget.