Close, pappa. My son-in-law put the fish back, and later measured the cooler top at 18 inches. He was by himself, and he caught it as soon as he got to the dock. It was the only fish he caught (on one of my hand-tied jigs). As far as proof goes, I cannot say that I saw the fish, but I DID see the cooler lid, and he transferred his pic to my phone. We went back several times to see if we could catch its grandma, but 13s were the best we could do.