|
British angler Jeremy Wade looks understandably anxious as he grapples with this ferocious-looking 'giant piranha'. The 52-year-old caught the aptly-named goliath tigerfish during a fishing expedition up the Congo River in Africa. The brave fisherman was forced to hold the fish at arms-length for fear of being bitten by its razor-sharp teeth while posing with it for the camera.
This guy is crazy.
Careful: Jeremy Wade bravely poses with the 5ft long goliath tigerfish caught during an expedition up the River Congo in Africa The goliath tigerfish is one of the most fearsome freshwater fish in the world and said to be a much bigger and deadlier version of the piranha. The giant fish has 32 teeth that are of similar size to those of a great white shark and has been known to attack humans and even crocodiles.
It has only ever been caught by a handful of fishermen due to the danger it poses and the fact its habitat is notoriously hard to reach. Wade, the host of ITV's River Monsters show, said he took extra care when reeling in this specimen, which weighed more than 100lbs and was 5ft long. The TV programme looks into mythical reports from around the world of humans being attacked by unknown monsters from the deep before the British host sets out to find and catch the suspect. Commenting on the goliath tigerfish, Wade said: 'This fish is no tench. It is, for all intents and purposes, a giant piranha. It is quite a beast.
Open wide: The ferocious 'giant piranha' was caught during the filiming of ITV's River Monsters
Wade spent eight days trying to land the fish and said he returned it to the river soon afterwards
'The teeth on it are incredibly sharp and are about the same length as a great white shark.
'It also has an extremely powerful bite and has been known to consume prey the same size as itself, attack people and take pieces out of crocodiles. 'It is thought that these fish attack in a reflex response to a sudden movement or splash.
'It is very rare to catch one, especially by an outsider because they are found in such a remote and difficult location to get to. There are no guides or lodges on that part of the Congo River.' Wade revealed he used a sizable catfish as bait for the tigerfish and a 200lbs rod and line. He said he also took care to stand back from it until it was safely in his landing net.
'It is a very dangerous fish to handle. If you aren't careful it could easily take your finger off or worse,' he added. Wade, who spent eight days trying to land the fish, said he returned it to the river soon afterwards.
The new series of River Monsters starts on ITV1 on November 2 at 7.30pm. |
|
|
Minnesota is first nationally in the sales of fishing licenses per capita.
Fish species: 158
Fishing waters: 3,800,000 acres
Fishable lakes: 5,493
Fishable streams (cold and warm water): 15,000 miles
Trout streams: 1,900 miles
Trout stream improvements: 410 miles
Trout lakes rehabilitated: 134
Warm water lakes rehabilitated: 79
Average number of fish stocked per year:
Walleye Fry - 250 million
Walley Fingerlings - 2.5 million
Walleye Yearlings - 50 thousand
Walleye Adults - 30 thousand
Northern Pike (fry,fingerlings & adults) - 1.2 million
Muskellunge (fingerlings) - 30,000
Largemouth Bass - 7,500 (fingerlings and adults)
Channel Catfish - 100,000 (fingerlings and yearlings)
Bluegill - 40,000 adults
Tiger Muskellunge (fingerlings) - 2,000
Trout - 2.3 million (fingerlings and yearlings)
Fish hatcheries: 5 coldwater ( trout and salmon), 12 cool and warm water (walleye, muskie, catfish, etc.)
Walleye rearing ponds used annually (on average): 325
Northern pike spawning areas used annually (on average): 10
|
|
Read more...
|
|
The Lake Michigan Fishery:
Balancing the Future
Overview. Predator and prey interactions play a key roll in balancing the abundance of fishes in every aquatic system, and Lake Michigan salmon and trout fisheries are no different. Over the past several years.jpg) Chinook salmon fishing on Lake Michigan has been exceptional, approaching 8.5 million pounds of total harvest in 2004, which is the highest level since 1986. This harvest level suggests either there are many more salmon in the lake than can be explained by stocking, or there is not enough food and Chinook are hungry and biting everything in sight, or more likely a combination of both. Through extensive sampling fisheries managers have also identified a declining trend in the prey or forage base coupled with this rise in Chinook harvest. A similar trend was identified in Lake Michigan in the late 1990s and more recently in Lake Huron. In 1999 the Lake Michigan management agencies, in consultation with interested stakeholders, reduced lake-wide stocking of Chinook salmon by 27% from 6,000,000 to 4,400,000 fish in an effort to better balance predator and prey populations. The reduction was partially justified because of concerns that high density of Chinooks could lead to an epizootic recurrence caused by bacterial kidney disease (BKD), which significantly reduced the Chinook population in the late 1980s. Despite the stocking reduction in 1999 and the subsequent increase in harvest, it appears that the forage base may still be at risk. Therefore, it is likely prudent to make further stocking reductions at this time to maintain a favorable balance of predators and their prey.
The Lake Michigan management agencies will sponsor a conference on September 24, 2005 in Kenosha, Wisconsin to discuss the question of whether or not to implement stocking reductions, starting in 2006. The thoughts, advice, and opinions of all interested users of Lake Michigan will be appreciated. If you cannot attend the meeting, you are invited to reply to the agencies directly using the address found at the end of the document.
.jpg) Chinook Stocking History. The chart at right illustrates a nearly 40-year history of stocking Chinook salmon and harvest in Lake Michigan. For the first 20 years stocking levels steadily increased as agencies developed hatchery capacity and expertise, and the harvest increased almost every year. An outbreak of BKD in the late 1980s caused a severe decline in the Chinook population and caused the management agencies to question stocking policies. BKD incidence may have been provoked by conditions similar to what is being observed in Lake Michigan today, which is lower prey abundance and high numbers of predators. By the early 1990s Chinook fishing started to improve, but believing that substantial cuts were necessary to assure the long-term stability of the forage base the agencies reduced Chinook salmon stocking by 27% in 1999. Since then Chinook salmon fishing has been outstanding.
Recent Concerns. A number of indicators suggest that the great fishing anglers are currently experiencing will not last. Fisheries research scientists on Lake Michigan have developed a series of indicators that are now referred to as “red flags”. These indicators provide managers long term trend information necessary to make decisions on when management practices need to be adjusted in order to meet objectives. First among these is the decline in size-at-age of Chinook salmon. As shown in the chart, the average weight of a 30-inch Chinook salmon returning to Wisconsin’s Strawberry Creek Weir has declined over two pounds since the late 1970s, and almost one full pound between 2001 and 2004.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
|
.png)
