Fish – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Record-shattering catfish caught on Mississippi River

A Mississippi angler has shattered the state record for blue catfish after a 40-minute fight with what he described as “a fish of a lifetime.”

Eugene Cronley, of Brandon, hooked the massive catfish while using skipjack herring as bait on April 7 near Natchez on the Mississippi River.

“We could hardly get him in the boat,” Cronley told the Clarion Ledger. “I was wore out.”

The fish weighed 131 pounds and replaces a 95-pound blue catfish as the state record.

“The fish shattered the previous rod-and-reel record of 95 lbs. caught by Dakota Hinson in 2009, and is larger than the trophy record blue catfish of 101 lbs. caught by the team of Freddie Parker and Brad Smith in 1997,” the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks boasted Monday on Facebook.

Cronley described the catch as “truly a fish of a lifetime.”

Eugene Cronley (right) admires his record catch

For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for blue catfish stands at 143 pounds. That catfish was caught at Virginia’s Kerr Lake in 2011.

Blue catfish are native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River basin systems, and have been introduced elsewhere the U.S.

–Images showing the record catfish are courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks

‘Extremely rare’ golden crappie landed by ice fisherman

A Minnesota angler wasn’t sure what to think after reeling through the ice a gold-colored fish that resembled a crappie in shape only.

A Minnesota angler wasn’t sure what to think after reeling through the ice a brightly colored fish that resembled a crappie in shape only.

“I thought maybe it was a sunfish due to the color, but after I got it out of the hole I thought it had the body of a crappie,” Rick Konakowitz, 60, told FTW Outdoors. “I was a little perplexed.”

Common crappie are speckled, greenish-colored panfish targeted by anglers across the United States.

Rick Konakowitz poses with golden crappie

The nine-inch crappie caught by Konakowitz last Wednesday at Clear Lake was bright yellow and gold, described by the angler as “a once-in-a-lifetime fish.”

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Alan Lackmann, a researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth, told ABC affiliate KSTP that crappie of this color are “extremely rare in wild populations.”

The crappie boasted what KSTP described as “an over-expression of pigment.”

Common crappie. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Loren Miller, a biologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told the network, “It’s a rarity for sure for any one individual to manage to catch one.”

Because the crappie could not blend with its surroundings and was vulnerable to predatory fish, both scientists were surprised that it had survived this long.

Konakowitz, who is from Hanska, was ice fishing with a Glow Devil lure and had landed at least one ordinary crappie before his monumental catch.

“The golden crappie to me was the biggest surprise in all my years of fishing,” he said, adding that he plans to have a taxidermist construct a replica for a trophy mount.

Anglers busted with 152 crappie over the daily limit

Authorities in Mississippi have busted two anglers in possession of 152 crappie over the limit at Enid Lake.

Apparently, a statewide daily creel limit of 30 crappie was not sufficient for two anglers at Mississippi’s Enid Lake.

Authorities on Thursday announced that after receiving a recent call regarding “suspicious activity” at the lake, an officer encountered two individuals in possession of 152 crappie over the limit.

The bust was carried out by Cpl. Brian Tallent of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. The unidentified anglers also were charged with game violations.

The DWFP’s Col. Jerry Carter stated in a news release: “We would like to thank the general public for reporting game violations thereby allowing our officers to further protect our state’s wildlife resources. We would also like to thank Cpl. Brian Tallent for his work in this investigation.”

The world record for white crappie – 5 pounds, 3 ounces, by angler Fred Bright – was set at Enid Lake in 1957.

‘Twilight Zone’ sea creature washes ashore after sonic boom

Video footage shows a menacing-looking sea creature with a gaping mouth full of fang-like teeth that mysteriously washed ashore alive.

A menacing-looking sea creature with a gaping mouth full of fang-like teeth and typically found in the “Ocean Twilight Zone” mysteriously washed ashore alive on a Southern California beach last week.

Davey’s Locker Sportfishing and Whale Watching posted rare video of the lancetfish squirming about on the sand near the edge of the shoreline in Laguna Beach. Goff Tours, a professional Surf School in Laguna Beach, captured the footage.

“Creature from the Twilight Zone!” Davey’s Locker announced on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/DaveysLockerSportfishing/videos/449228673478683

The Ocean Twilight Zone is described by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a layer of water that stretches around the globe and lies about 650 to 3,300 feet below the ocean surface, just beyond the reach of sunlight.

Though the lancetfish has been found in waters as shallow as 10 fathoms in Oregon and the Gulf of Mexico, it is primary found in that Twilight Zone and beyond, from 328 to 6,560 feet.

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The appearance of this odd sea creature on an Orange County beach remains unexplained, but it emerged on shore within minutes of a mysterious sonic boom, Goff Tours reported.

“After capturing this video, the fish was pulled safely back into the water, where it swam away, seemingly unharmed,” Davey’s Locker reported.

Giant goldfish – weighing 9 pounds! – discovered in small lake

Biologists conducting studies on Oak Grove Lake in South Carolina discovered a 9-pound goldfish that had been residing in the lake for an unknown period.

“Anyone missing their goldfish?” the Greenville Recreation Center asked Monday on Facebook.

The goldfish, perhaps formerly a much smaller aquarium fish, rose to the surface during an electroshocking study conducted to determine the health of the 12-acre fishery.

The 15-inch goldfish stood out glaringly compared to other fish that were briefly stunned to be counted as part of the study. (Goldfish typically can fit in a glass bowl, but they can grow to large sizes in the wild.)

The electroshocking was conducted in mid-November and Greenville Parks, Recreation & Tourism released the photo Monday.

Houck told NBC that although goldfish are not native to South Carolina waters, they’re not considered invasive and the goldfish was allowed to swim free.

Houck is quoted by CNN: “We think someone must have just dropped their fish in the lake because they didn’t want it anymore, instead of flushing it down the toilet.”

Reads one of several comments on the Greenville Recreation post:

“That is probably my old gold fish. I had to move and when packing him up my brother broke the container. I had no other choice but to release him and hope for the best. Its name was Lucky. This was 11 years ago. I was so sad. I truly hope that this was my fish because that means he lived and had a good life.”

–Image courtesy of Greenville Parks, Recreation & Tourism

Angler lands bass with slithery surprise in mouth

In a year when it seems that anything is possible, a Tennessee angler has reeled in a bass with a live snake in its mouth.

“Be careful when you reach your hand in a fish’s mouth! You never know what might be in there,” the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency cautioned its followers Saturday via Facebook.

A photo showing part of the snake lodged inside the throat of the bass was supplied by Dan Boudrie, who caught the bass earlier this month near the town of Paris, after it had apparently snacked on the reptile.

Boudrie is quoted as saying, “The head was looking at me right before I took this picture. I thought it was cool but wondered how I would explain to an ER doc that I got bit by a snake from putting my fingers in a fish’s mouth.”

Bass fishermen commonly use a thumb and forefinger to hoist fish out of the water, in a practice called lipping.

Reads one of more than 100 comments on the TWRA Facebook post: “If I had lipped the fish and then saw the snake, I probably would have thrown the fish, snake and rod and reel across the lake! No pictures!”

Reads another comment: “Guess I’m done fishing for 2020.”

The snake was identified as a non-venomous water snake, according to McClatchy News. Water snakes are sometimes confused with venomous water moccasins.

Boudrie was said to have thrown back the bass with the snake still in its mouth.

Bass are opportunistic and have been known to eat snakes and lizards that venture too close to water’s edge.

–Image courtesy of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency