Piranha Hybrids found in East Tennessee Lake

Bad Fishing Forecast
You’ve all heard of the piranha fish that typically live in South American rivers. They are famous for their sharp teeth and humongous appetite for meat. I’ve heard stories about these fish all my life. I heard that for natives to cross a river with a herd of cattle that they would go upstream and sacrifice one cow to the fish, and then hurry down stream and cross with the rest of the herd while the piranhas were eating the upstream cow. In minutes, the cow would be stripped to the bone, and nothing left but a skeleton.

To my regret a similar fish is  now thriving in my favorite fishing lake, Douglas. It seems that pet stores have sold piranhas to locals for their aquariums. Through the years a few were let loose in Douglas Lake. Well it wasn’t long before the fish were laying eggs and reproducing. As you can see from the picture of the piranhas above, they are similar to a crappie. So it seems that  the piranha and crappie have begun to cross breed in Douglas Lake, creating a new hybrid they have named the crapiranha, which are growing to weights of 5-6 pounds.

This picture shows the typical teeth in a 3 pound crapiranha. No one knows the limit on how big these fish will reach. One biologist predicted they could grow as large as 15 pounds, and they would have a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

While these hybrids are still good to eat they are difficult and dangerous to catch. In the past we used to catch crappie using 4 pound mono on light tackle. Now 10 pound braid is needed with steel leaders using heavy tackle. For landing the fish, dip nets are useless, and fishermen need to use gaffs. If you catch one, use extreme caution. While they look harmless, they can be very dangerous.

I also heard about two fishermen who recently caught 10 crapiranhas. They used steel mesh gloves to unhook the fish and put them in the live well. Before the day was over the fish had eaten a hole through the fiberglass boat and escaped, but not before one of the fishermen suffered severe bites on his arms while trying to catch one of the escaping fish.

It is surely a sad time for fishermen on Douglas Lake. And swimmers and water skiers should beware as the weather warms.

~ Tennessee Granddaddy, April 1, 2009
Have a nice April Fool’s Day!

 

~~~

Tennessee Granddaddy Says:
Going to church will soften your heart,
but it will not pull the weeds.

~~~

Quote of the Day

The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.
~Author Unknown

~~~
Joke of the Day

After a ship sank in the ocean, three men ended up stranded in a lifeboat. They floated around for days without food or water. One afternoon a bottle floated up to the boat. The men grabbed the bottle and when they pulled the cork out of the bottle, a genie appeared.

'I'll grant each of you a single wish,' said the genie.

'I wish I was home,' said the first man. Then, poof! he disappeared.

'I wish I was home, too,' said the second man. Poof! He disappeared too.

The third man looked around. 'Gee, I'm kind of lonely,' he said. 'I wish my friends were here with me.'

Add your thoughts & ideas to this blog by clicking on the "comments" below