NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — 

It's a fish story for the record books.

An East Nashville man just landed the state record musky, a giant predator that's considered the king of the lake.

"I'd been focused on the fish to some degree. I nicknamed it boss man," Steven Paul, a professional musician whose other passion involves a rod and reel, said.

But Paul only has eyes for musky.

"They're big, strong fish and they have that lore of the fish of 10-thousand casts"

Paul says it's not uncommon to fish all day and never even see a musky. This sport he explains is about the hunt.

On March second, Paul landed the biggest musky ever caught in the state of Tennessee. It weighed in it at 43 pounds and 14-ounces and measured 51 and 3-8's inches long. He caught it on a lure called a "Glide Raider" made by Joe Bucher outdoors of Wisconsin.

"I threw out this, the Joe Bucher glide raider and just a couple of pumps of that glide bait and it just devoured it," Paul said.

Boss Man bested the previous state record set in 1983 by a pound and 6-ounces.

Paul says musky will follow a lure right up to the boat but usually don't bite. Remember they're predators and feed when they're ready. "I was you know fortunate to be able to land it and fortunate enough it was the size it was."

Paul caught this monster in Melton Hill reservoir in Knox County.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency stocks Melton Hill with musky whenever fish are available.

Tournament bass fisherman Dylan Anderson says records like this are great for the sport. "It makes you want to go out and do it every day if you can so i can only imagine how it feels to catch one that's considered a state record for your area," Anderson said.

Paul says he's enjoyed connecting with T-W-R-A and hopes his fish tale attracts other to a sport he's passionate about. He says it took him more than 20-minutes to wrestle that giant fish into the boat.