ALTON, Mo. — While doing some night fishing in the Mississippi River in Missouri, Chad Hester and a friend came across something they almost couldn’t believe.

Using Asian carp as bait, Hester caught an extremely rare, ‘unicorn’ fish, a piebald blue catfish.

The fish weighed in at 36 pounds. Hester released the fish back into the river stating that he’s happier knowing it’s swimming free in the Mississippi.

“That way he can spread his genes in the wild, and somebody else might have the opportunity to catch him,” Hester said.

Some fishing enthusiasts refer to this fish as a “one-in-a-million” catch.

Piebalds resemble ordinary blue catfish, but they stand out because their white skin is marbled with prominent grey blotches. In many cases, this also puts them at a disadvantage in the wild because they stick out to predators.

Just how rare is a piebald blue catfish? The Lower Mississippi Conservation Committee catches tens of thousands of ordinary catfish every year. Back in 2014, they only caught two piebald blue catfish.