Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime catch.

A large alligator snapping turtle was caught by a Texas fisherman as he was enjoying Father’s Day.

Around 7:30 p.m. on that Sunday, Justin Broomhall, 25, of Longview, Texas, his father Michael Broomhall, Sr., his son Lakestine, 3, and James Elliott, the father of his fiancée, were catfishing in Lake Cherokee.

At first, the catfish appeared to be biting, according to Broomhall, who spoke to Fox News Digital.

Broomhall claimed, “All of a sudden, they suddenly vanished.”

A trail of bubbles was then seen travelling across the water, according to Broomhall, who has been fishing since he was 4 or 5 years old.

He cast his fishing line into the water right in front of what he thought was a monster catfish.

Broomhall understood he had to release the alligator snapping turtle after realising it was a threatened species, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The line broke as Broomhall attempted to grip him behind his head on his shell from below the surface of the water.

Broomhall wanted to take the hook out of the turtle’s mouth even though it was no longer on his line because it would infect the turtle.

While his father grabbed the belt loop on his jeans, Broomhall waded into the water and grabbed the turtle’s leg and tail to make sure he got it on land.

Broomhall recalled, “That’s when we understood how huge he really was and how old he really was. He pulled me back up to shore, and I brought the turtle up there.

The alligator snapping turtle, according to Broomhall, could have been 100 years old or older and weighed between 150 and 160 pounds.

According to Broomhall, “his eyes were already starting to turn blurry, like he was going blind.”

The enormous reptile was also covered in scars, according to Broomhall.

He remarked, “It appeared as though an alligator was attempting to tear a chunk out of his tail. He already had a few small digits gone.

Broomhall freed the turtle from the hook in its mouth and returned it to the lake. Broomhall, though, hopes that this will not be their final encounter.

I anticipate seeing him in a few more years since I saw him go back into the wild and I know he still resides in that cove, Broomhall added. “Only to see him in the outdoors and learn about his condition.”

“It was wonderful to actually land one and see how enormous they really are,” he added. And it was much cooler to have my dad and son there.

Broomhall continued, “He’s my first son, so the experience with him was — that’s once in a lifetime right there.

Broomhall expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to share his capture with an even larger audience.

To get my name out there and demonstrate to the world that there are still dinosaurs that live in these lakes and other such things, Broomhall, who is from a small town, added, “It simply makes me happy.”