Post by Greenedog on Aug 26, 2009 19:00:48 GMT -5
From the Lafayette, IN Journal & Courier
By MERANDA WATLING • mwatling@jconline.com • August 24, 2009
Dean Asbury was fishing for catfish with his father Sunday night under the Harrison Bridge in Lafayette when he pulled what he thought might be a piranha from the Wabash River.
The 21-year-old Lafayette man said three of his lines were snapped before he hooked the fish with a chunk of liver he was using as bait. "He fought more than any catfish I've ever caught," Asbury said.
At that point, Asbury had no idea what kind of fish it was. It's still not certain what type of fish the 13-inch, 2 1/2-pound catch is, but Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials said it could be a piranha or, more likely, the related pacu.
"My dad actually stuck his thumb in its mouth because we didn't know what it was," Asbury said. "It bit down on him, and he said, 'It's got teeth!' "
Any South American freshwater fish is an unusual catch to come out of the Wabash River, according to DNR wildlife biologist Dean Zimmerman.
Zimmerman said in the 38 years he has been working in this area, he has heard of only two instances in which a piranha was claimed to have been pulled from the Wabash. In one of those cases, the fish turned out to be a pacu. Zimmerman had not seen the fish Monday to know for certain which Asbury's fish was.
DNR Conservation Officer Matt Tholen said that by looking at pictures of Asbury's catch, the fish appeared to be a pacu.
"By the way the teeth are laid out and comparing pictures, I would say that is a red-bellied pacu," Tholen said. "Either way, that is a nice fish."
And either way, neither fish belongs in the Wabash. Zimmerman said it was probably a pet someone dumped this spring or summer. He said a South American fish probably wouldn't survive an Indiana winter.
"I don't see or hear about every odd fish that comes out of the Wabash," Zimmerman said, "but we've had only two reported in 38 years, so it's rare. I'd be terribly surprised if someone would come in with another this summer."
Asbury, however, is hoping there are more. He planned to head back to the same spot again Monday to search.
Even if he doesn't catch another, he plans to mount the one he caught, hook and all. Even one, he said, is pretty unbelievable, the type of thing "you see only on TV."
"It was definitely something you see on the Discovery Channel," Asbury said. "I thought nobody would believe me."
Contributing: Brent Drinkut/bdrinkut@jconline.com
By MERANDA WATLING • mwatling@jconline.com • August 24, 2009
Dean Asbury was fishing for catfish with his father Sunday night under the Harrison Bridge in Lafayette when he pulled what he thought might be a piranha from the Wabash River.
The 21-year-old Lafayette man said three of his lines were snapped before he hooked the fish with a chunk of liver he was using as bait. "He fought more than any catfish I've ever caught," Asbury said.
At that point, Asbury had no idea what kind of fish it was. It's still not certain what type of fish the 13-inch, 2 1/2-pound catch is, but Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials said it could be a piranha or, more likely, the related pacu.
"My dad actually stuck his thumb in its mouth because we didn't know what it was," Asbury said. "It bit down on him, and he said, 'It's got teeth!' "
Any South American freshwater fish is an unusual catch to come out of the Wabash River, according to DNR wildlife biologist Dean Zimmerman.
Zimmerman said in the 38 years he has been working in this area, he has heard of only two instances in which a piranha was claimed to have been pulled from the Wabash. In one of those cases, the fish turned out to be a pacu. Zimmerman had not seen the fish Monday to know for certain which Asbury's fish was.
DNR Conservation Officer Matt Tholen said that by looking at pictures of Asbury's catch, the fish appeared to be a pacu.
"By the way the teeth are laid out and comparing pictures, I would say that is a red-bellied pacu," Tholen said. "Either way, that is a nice fish."
And either way, neither fish belongs in the Wabash. Zimmerman said it was probably a pet someone dumped this spring or summer. He said a South American fish probably wouldn't survive an Indiana winter.
"I don't see or hear about every odd fish that comes out of the Wabash," Zimmerman said, "but we've had only two reported in 38 years, so it's rare. I'd be terribly surprised if someone would come in with another this summer."
Asbury, however, is hoping there are more. He planned to head back to the same spot again Monday to search.
Even if he doesn't catch another, he plans to mount the one he caught, hook and all. Even one, he said, is pretty unbelievable, the type of thing "you see only on TV."
"It was definitely something you see on the Discovery Channel," Asbury said. "I thought nobody would believe me."
Contributing: Brent Drinkut/bdrinkut@jconline.com