By Joe Cermele

Here’s an interesting little news snippet I came across. On September 11, angler Richard Pardee hooked what he thought was the “biggest bluegill of his life” in Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago. Nope, guess again.

From the Fon Du Lac Reporter:

Marine experts said it may be a piranha, a carnivorous aggressive fish, or a pacu, a species that prefers fruit and vegetation. Both belong in the Amazon, so it's unlikely either would survive a Wisconsin winter, said Kendall Kamke, DNR senior fisheries biologist.

"The thing was probably hanging on as it was," he said.

Kamke said officials aren't certain but they're leaning toward a pacu, based on information they've obtained from aquarium dealers. He said Pardee's catch seemed a bit large for a piranha and the teeth resembled a human infant's — a common pacu characteristic.

Obviously the fish was an unwanted aquarium pet. In my lifetime, three piranhas have made my local papers after getting ripped out of the Delaware River by catfishermen. Then there was a guy who hooked into a big, fat, tarpon-like arowana in the Delaware one summer pitching a popper for smallmouth. That river is a notorious dumping ground for tropical fish.

Wisconsin DNR said they’d probably let Pardee keep this fish to have it mounted. If you caught something whacky like this in your home water, even if you knew someone dumped it, would you flaunt it and think is was cool? Or would you feel it just didn’t count? I have to admit, if I bagged a 20-pound Amazonian arowana in New Jersey, I’d be a little jazzed. You caught it fair and square, no matter how it got there. – JC

Comments (16)

from seadog wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

That looks like a pacu.

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from Koldkut wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I wonder how it tasted.....

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from steve182 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

pirahna?

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from buck hunter wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I've heard of a piranha being caught there before.

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from Ruckweiler wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

Only idiot Americans would do this sort of foolishness. Remember that the Everglades are packed now with constrictors ditched by their owners to the tune of about 100,000+ after breeding in the wild. Can we feed these people to the piranha and constrictors?

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from swilmot1 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

exciting catch for the guy but how dumb are people for dumping a foriegn species in our lakes

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from shane wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

If you think that's a bluegill then you must be smoking too much arowana.

Definitely a pacu.

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from jersey pig wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

i'd probably get the thing mounted and hang it up. would be an interesting conversation piece. and give people an excuse to doubt your sanity of truthfulness when you tell the story.

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from cdavis1887 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I would mount it, would make a nice decoration by the work bench

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from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

A pacu only looks like a pirahna until you see a pirahna. I have caught several pacu(all live released into a dumpster) in city pond while fishing for carp. They are suckers for a bread fly.

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from daewoo10356 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

That is most definitely a Red Bellied Pacu, there is one swimming around in an 85 gallon aquarium not 3 feet from my desk right now. Never trust anybody who sells you one and they say they don't get very big we are already looking for a bigger tank so we can keep George.

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from huntSC wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

Their was some thing caught like that in lake Heartwell SC.

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from Logan123 wrote 2 years 17 weeks ago

Its a shame that people would dump that in Lake Winnebago. It destroys the wildlife in that lake. I have fished that lake many times.

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from jtboles wrote 2 years 17 weeks ago

If it was something tropical that wasn't supposed to be there then i would mount it for sure cause catching a fish is catching a fish even if it isn't supposed to be there

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from thuroy wrote 2 years 15 weeks ago

I have seen a piranha caught in Gull Lake, MI. It is a cool sight, but not something I would like caught that often.

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from ponder.peter wrote 1 year 16 weeks ago

looks like a Pacu to me has any one checked on the internet for this, i would but i'm using my iphone as my internet connection is playing up on the computer, probably a virus

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from shane wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

If you think that's a bluegill then you must be smoking too much arowana.

Definitely a pacu.

+5 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from seadog wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

That looks like a pacu.

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Koldkut wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I wonder how it tasted.....

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from steve182 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

pirahna?

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from buck hunter wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I've heard of a piranha being caught there before.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from swilmot1 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

exciting catch for the guy but how dumb are people for dumping a foriegn species in our lakes

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jersey pig wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

i'd probably get the thing mounted and hang it up. would be an interesting conversation piece. and give people an excuse to doubt your sanity of truthfulness when you tell the story.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from cdavis1887 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

I would mount it, would make a nice decoration by the work bench

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from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

A pacu only looks like a pirahna until you see a pirahna. I have caught several pacu(all live released into a dumpster) in city pond while fishing for carp. They are suckers for a bread fly.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from daewoo10356 wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

That is most definitely a Red Bellied Pacu, there is one swimming around in an 85 gallon aquarium not 3 feet from my desk right now. Never trust anybody who sells you one and they say they don't get very big we are already looking for a bigger tank so we can keep George.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from huntSC wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

Their was some thing caught like that in lake Heartwell SC.

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from Logan123 wrote 2 years 17 weeks ago

Its a shame that people would dump that in Lake Winnebago. It destroys the wildlife in that lake. I have fished that lake many times.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from jtboles wrote 2 years 17 weeks ago

If it was something tropical that wasn't supposed to be there then i would mount it for sure cause catching a fish is catching a fish even if it isn't supposed to be there

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from thuroy wrote 2 years 15 weeks ago

I have seen a piranha caught in Gull Lake, MI. It is a cool sight, but not something I would like caught that often.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from ponder.peter wrote 1 year 16 weeks ago

looks like a Pacu to me has any one checked on the internet for this, i would but i'm using my iphone as my internet connection is playing up on the computer, probably a virus

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Ruckweiler wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

Only idiot Americans would do this sort of foolishness. Remember that the Everglades are packed now with constrictors ditched by their owners to the tune of about 100,000+ after breeding in the wild. Can we feed these people to the piranha and constrictors?

-2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.