Fishing – Page 20 – Syndication Server

Baby albino ‘cyclops’ shark shocks fishermen

Fishermen were shocked when while cleaning an adult shark they found a rare baby albino shark with one eye in the middle of its head.

In a similar discovery as one made off Mexico in 2011, fishermen in Indonesia were shocked when while cleaning an adult shark they found a rare baby albino shark with one eye in the middle of its head.

The commercial fishermen hauled in their nets in waters off Maluku Province in Indonesia on Oct. 10 and pulled in a dead adult shark, presumably bycatch as Yahoo! News Australia reported it was “accidentally caught in the net.”

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“We found three babies inside its stomach, but one of them looked strange with only one eye,” Andy, 29, explained, according to Yahoo! News. “Its color was strange, too, like milk.”

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The fishermen reported the “cyclops” baby shark to the local marine office and turned it over to officials there.

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

Record lake trout catch ‘a big deal’ for more than its size

Jeffery Sanford was overjoyed for obvious reasons after his recent catch of a 19.36-pound lake trout in the Vermont portion of Lake Champlain.

“I just got my first boat this year, and it was my first time out alone,” Sanford told the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. “It hit on my first cast of the day.”

The massive trout set a size record for a lake that sits in portions of Vermont, New York, and Quebec, Canada. But what also stood out was that the fish bore no scars caused by sea lampreys, which points to the success of a long-term effort to control the nuisance species.

“Jeff’s fish is the largest lake trout from Lake Champlain since the department started keeping fish records in 1969,” said Shawn Good, a Fish and Wildlife biologist. “There have been much larger lake trout caught in other Vermont waters, but this Champlain fish is a big deal.”

Lake Champlain has had a long history of sea lamprey predation on lake trout, brown trout, landlocked Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, and other species. The eel-like “vampire fish” latch onto prey with sucker-like jaws and chew their flesh with razor-sharp teeth.

The abundance of these parasitic fish in Lake Champlain has resulted in lower growth, smaller size, and lower life expectancies of game fish species. This has resulted in decreased fishing opportunities.

An effort to control the sea lamprey population, under the direction of the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative, began in 1990 and appears finally to be showing results.

“We’re seeing lower overall wounding rates on many of these fish, and the fact that anglers are catching older, larger lake trout, salmon, and other fish species is proof that continued long-term sea lamprey control is working,” Good said.

Sanford’s 36.5-inch lake trout, hooked with a jig at a depth of 100 feet, is the new species leader in the ongoing Lake Champlain’s International Basin Derby.

Tournament director Elizabeth Ehlers told the Fish and Wildlife Department that larger fish have been entered in recent years.

“Over the past 10 years, we have seen several record-breaking fish in cold, cool and warm-water species divisions,” Ehlers said.

The sea lamprey control effort – using lampricide treatments – is ongoing this fall in four tributaries that contain spawning sea lamprey populations.

–Image showing Jeffery Sanford with his lake trout is courtesy of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department; image showing lake trout with sea lampreys is generic

Fisherman nets rare two-headed shark, decides to throw it back

A commercial fisherman in India discovered a rare surprise Friday when he hauled up his net: a tiny two-headed shark.

A commercial fisherman in India discovered a rare surprise Friday when he hauled up his net: a two-headed baby shark.

The shark, caught by Nitin Patil off the village of Satpai in Palghar, measured only six inches and was tossed back after the fisherman took photographs.

“We do not eat such small fish, especially sharks, so I thought it was strange but decided to throw it [back] anyway,” Patil told the Hindustan Times.

The news website quotes another fisherman as saying, “We have never seen anything like this before.”

It’s believed to be the first documentation of a two-headed shark caught off the Indian state of Maharashtra, and scientists wish Patil would have kept the specimen.

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Biologists with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research – Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute said the fetus was that of either a spadenose shark or sharpnose shark, which inhabit the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.

“Both are viviparous [birthing live young that have developed inside the parent], and are common in Maharashtra waters,” Dr. Akhilesh KV, CMFRI scientist, told The Hindustan Times.

“These are dicephalic. This phenomenon is reported in several animal species including sharks, possibly due to mutation or any other embryonic malformation, disorders, and these are very rare reports. Similar cases are reported elsewhere outside the northern Indian Ocean. These materials should be preserved out of scientific interest.”

The Hindustan Times notes that a two-headed milk shark was caught off Gujarat in 1964, and a two-headed spadenose shark was caught off Karwar in 1991.

–Images courtesy of Nitin Patil and Umesh Palekar

Fisherman catches rare ‘super cow’ using a balloon

A fisherman caught a rare and record-size 364.5-pound bluefin tuna off Southern California on a charter boat using a unique technique.

Fishermen seeking to catch a fish of a lifetime or personal best on a charter boat off Orange County, Calif., appeared to hit the jackpot last week, especially Adonis Soriano, who landed a record-size 364.5-pound bluefin tuna—known as a super cow in sportfishing lingo.

Adonis Soriano, right, with his 364.5-pound bluefin tuna, along with deckhand.

A super cow is one that weighs 300 pounds or more, and it is rare to catch one off Southern California as fishermen there typically take long-range trips from San Diego well into Mexican waters to catch these behemoths.

Soriano’s catch would have shattered the California state record had he not used the rail for leverage. Also, it wasn’t weighed on a certified scale but taped out at 81 inches in length with a 61-inch girth, thus producing the estimated weight.

The state record is 245 pounds caught in 2016, or about when big bluefin tuna started showing up in Southern California waters. As it was, Soriano’s catch was a record among the Newport Beach sportfishing fleet.

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Soriano was one of 18 anglers aboard the Thunderbird out of Davey’s Locker in Newport Beach that fished on a two-day trip behind San Clemente Island, and they caught loads of big bluefin tuna.

Charter master Jeff Price told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors that all the anglers were going after the fish of a lifetime or personal record, and several succeeded. They totaled 65 bluefin tuna with seven of them weighing over 100 pounds, four over 200 pounds (known as a cow), and the one over 300.

Adonis Soriano with his 364.5-pound bluefin tuna.

“We use 200-pound test and dangle a flying fish from a helium balloon to catch these monsters,” Price told For The Win Outdoors, describing a method that gets a bait dangling on the surface away from the boat. “On this trip, we saw literally thousands of fish jumping out of the water feeding on small anchovies, although there are so many fish, they’re not easy to get to bite your bait. When they’re feeding on the small anchovies and Shelbys that’s usually all they want so you need to be very lucky for them to bite your bait.”

Then there were several lucky anglers, Soriano among the luckiest.

“The 364.5-pound bluefin took just under one hour to land,” Price said. “The fight was intense. He peeled off hundreds of feet of line on his first run. The large fishing reel was actually very warm from all of the tension.

“He laid the rod on the rail and put one knee down on the deck and started cranking the handle as hard as he could. It gets to be exhausting, but the longer you have the fish on, the higher the chance you will lose it. He did an excellent job landing this fish.”

Soriano told For The Win Outdoors the fight was “intense” and “like no other fight I had fought before.”

“[The fish took] long runs that almost took all the line off my reel,” Soriano said.

It wasn’t the only fish he caught; he landed another in the 35-40-pound range. The other was his biggest ever, surpassing a 90-pounder he had caught previously.”

Photos courtesy of Davey’s Locker and Adonis Soriano.

Angler’s use of Ooshies to catch fish stirs controversy

A Woolworths promotion involving Disney+ Ooshies has become a boon of sorts for an Aussie angler, who says the small collectables make fantastic fishing lures.

A Woolworths promotion involving Disney+ Ooshies has become a boon of sorts for an angler in Australia, who says the popular collectibles help him catch fish.

Mark Pace of Queensland posted several photos to Facebook this week showing glow-in-the-dark Ooshies attached near his hooks, to be used as teasers.

The glow from the collectables, Pace implied, helps inspire a strike response from game fish. His post also displayed photos of fish he caught with the help of Ooshies.

“Anyone have any glow-in-the-dark Ooshies they don’t want? Pace asked. “Happy to pay $1 each.”

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Apparently, the Wooolworths-Disney+ promotion has been so popular that the supermarket giant has run out of stock in most areas. As part of the promotion, the collectibles were given to customers who spent $30 or more in the stores.

“It’s apparent customers of all ages have loved collecting these Disney+ Ooshies and their popularity completely exceeded our expectations,” Andrew Hicks, Chief Marketing Officer for Woolworths, told 9News Australia.

But as Pace’s Facebook post became widely shared – “Finally, a useful purpose for Ooshies,” one commenter wrote – some viewers expressed concern that if this became a trend it would result in more plastic polluting the oceans.

“Plastic has no place in our oceans in any way or form,” one commenter wrote.

A potential controversy became such that a Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that the collectibles are not intended to be plopped into the ocean.

“While we don’t encourage the use of Ooshies for fishing bait, they can be used in many other ways,” the spokesperson said. “From storytelling, taking care of them as a special collector’s items or popping them on the back of pencils.”

–Images courtesy of Mark Pace

4-year-old angler channels Spider-Man, lands first dorado

Stories of epic battles with marlin and tuna abound in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but a recent fishing report noted that a 4-year-old local kid caught his first dorado.

Stories of epic battles with marlin and tuna abound in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but a recent fishing report noted that a 4-year-old boy caught his first dorado.

Quite a feat for Mischa Ehrenberg, whose Spiderman costume undoubtedly helped him gather the strength required to reel in one of the region’s most popular and scrappy game fish.

But Mischa’s story is perhaps more noteworthy because he caught the fish 27 years after his mom, Rebecca, reeled in her first Dorado – also as a 4-year-old.

Mischa Ehrenberg and his mom, Rebecca, with their first dorado, caught as 4-year-olds. Photo: Pisces Sportfishing

The Ehrenbergs, who founded Pisces Sportfishing 42 years ago, announced the catch Monday on Facebook, describing the family outing as a “Special day for our little Spider-Man!”

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Mischa was on the yacht Karina with his mom and grandpa, and the crew. “He reeled it in completely by himself,” Rebecca told For The Win Outdoors. “Such a little trooper.”

One of the accompanying images shows Mischa displaying his catch, made last Saturday, and Rebecca posing with hers in 1993.

Dorado, loosely translated as “golden one,” are immensely popular among Cabo San Lucas anglers because of their acrobatics on the hook, and their delicate white flesh. (Dorado are referred to as mahi-mahi in Hawaii.)

Rebecca noted that she was equally proud of her son when he reeled in his first marlin as a 3-year-old.

The Facebook post states: “We get a few people asking if fishing is appropriate for the little [ones]. We think taking them fishing is one of the best things you can do for them; learning and creating memories that last a lifetime.”

Rebecca said that Mischa, understandably, napped on the way back to port.

Politician’s most popular Facebook post in years: Teen’s huge catfish

A 13-year-old boy caught the biggest fish of his life, and became a huge hit in a Facebook post by a politician in South Carolina.

A 13-year-old boy caught the biggest fish of his life, a catfish weighing an estimated 36 pounds, and became a big hit in a Facebook post by a politician in South Carolina.

Landon Anthony of Clover caught the catfish while fishing with his grandfather recently on Lake Wylie, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Anthony’s mother, Jennifer Hullett, told the Observer her son threw back the behemoth catfish, knowing a fish that size doesn’t taste as good as smaller ones.

A photo of the fish was posted on a Clover neighborhood site last week and caught the eye of Allison Love, who represents Clover and Lake Wylie on the York County Council, District 2.

Love, who appears to post many topics related to her district, posted the photo on her Facebook page and wrote, “Swimming with the…catfish. Wow! 13-year-old Landon Anthony reeled this in from the depths of Lake Wylie. 36 lbs. I will think about this every time I get in my inner tube from now on. Impressive Landon!”

Others thought so too. The post generated 217 comments and it was shared at least 1,000 times, far more than any other recent posts made by Love.

“It’s been the most popular post on my page in 3½ years,” Love told the Observer on Saturday.

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As a young boy, Anthony was taught how to fish by his father, Johnny Anthony, and they also enjoyed hunting together, Hullett told the Observer. Sadly, Johnny died in a car accident in 2016. Now, Landon fishes with his grandparents and an uncle.

By the looks of things, it appears Landon was taught well.

Commenters on Facebook actually thought the catfish was bigger than the estimate.

“This one looks to be about 50 [pounds]. Amazing that a 13-year-old had the strength to pull this guy in.”

“That looks waaaaaay bigger than 36 lbs.”

“Looks bigger than 36 lbs. Nice catch.”

A nice catch, indeed.

Photo courtesy of Landon Anthony and Jennifer Hullett.

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Anglers on skiff land rare ‘super cow’ tuna

A 367-pound yellowfin tuna was caught last Friday in the Los Cabos region of Baja California Sur, Mexico, after the massive fish devoured a smaller tuna used as bait.

The rare “super cow,” a reference to yellowfin tuna weighing 300 pounds or more, was caught aboard a 23-foot panga, or skiff, by brothers Jesus and Gerardo Banaga out of La Playita near San Jose del Cabo.

According to Eric Brictson of Gordo Banks Pangas, the fish was hooked on a medium-size skipjack tuna that was trolled near Inner Gordo Banks in the Sea of Cortez. The fight lasted 2.5 hours.

A Pisces Sportfishing Facebook post provides more detail:

“They looped around the area only once when this Super Cow Yellowfin torpedoed out of the water after their bait. The fish ran for an hour straight, with the guys in hot pursuit, trying to avoid getting spooled.

“After the run it headed down deep and the hard work began. Two-and-a-half hours after the hookup they had the fish at the gaff.”

Brictson said Jesus Banaga is a longtime captain in his panga fleet, and that the tuna was weighed by another local, who purchased the fish afterward.

Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, told For The Win Outdoors that only a handful of “super cow” tuna are caught in area waters each year.

“With more sophisticated boats, new techniques such as kites, balloons, 360-degree radar, and boats being able to travel further, I do believe catches of these big fish has gone up,” Ehrenberg said.

“On the other hand, nothing can beat good old-fashioned skill. A lot of the panga guys out of La Playita are commercial tuna fishermen that also like to sportfish, so they know where they are and how to catch them – hence monster fish on tiny boats.”

Brictson said that on Saturday, Inner Gordo Banks was crowded with anglers hoping to latch onto a giant tuna, but there were no significant hookups.

“Still hit or miss,” he said.

While catches of super cow yellowfin tuna are rare, catches topping 400 pounds are exceedingly rare.

According to the International Game Fish Assn., the all-tackle world record stands at 427 pounds. The fish was caught south of Cabo San Lucas by Guy Yocom in September 2012.

–Images are courtesy of Gordo Banks Pangas and Pisces Sportfishing

White catfish record has experts baffled, prompts DNA test

An angler who was told he had caught a state-record white catfish now doesn’t know what to think after experts questioned the assessment.

A fisherman in New York who was told he had caught a state-record white catfish now doesn’t know what to think after several experts were left puzzled over the identity of the catfish, prompting them to send the fish in for DNA analysis.

Fishing in the Mohawk River, Chris Brockett of Loudonville landed what was originally thought to be a white catfish, which are relatively rare in New York. The catfish weighed 12 pounds and measured 30.5 inches, New York Upstate reported.

Brian Canzeri, a state conservation officer, witnessed the catfish being weighed on a certified scale and noted it beat the current white catfish record of 10.5 pounds, caught by Joe Silicato in 1998 at New Croton Reservoir in Westchester County.

A State Department of Environmental Conservation fisheries biologist agreed with Canzeri’s assessment, but the next day, another DEC staffer determined that it might be a channel catfish instead, because it had 27 rays on its fins.

From New York Upstate:

Channel catfish get bigger have narrower heads; sharper forked tails, blackish chin barbels (whiskers) – and have 25 to 28 rays, while a white catfish has 22 to 25 rays. The rays are the flexible, fleshy parts of the fin between the spines that control the fin movements.

Brockett’s fish, Canzeri said, had a whitish belly; a wider, bullhead-like head, a shallow fork in its tail – and upon initial glance, a total of 24 rays. In his opinion, it was a white catfish.

Wanting a second opinion, the DEC took the frozen fish to the New York State Museum where two ichthyologists examined it. Neither were able to reach a conclusion after counting the rays six times and coming up with four different numbers.

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It was borderline whether it was a white catfish or channel catfish. So the fish was sent away for DNA analysis, which could take several weeks to complete.

“It’s weird,” Brockett told New York Upstate. “It’s a mess. I just want to know what the hell it is.”

Photos courtesy of Chris Brockett.