Lake monster or
monstrous fish
An article caught my eye about a very large fish caught
in Missouri.
Extract:
Indeed, the biggest Missouri game fish of
any species came out of Table Rock Lake in 2015, when Andy Belobraydic snagged a 140-pound, 9-ounce monster
that took him half an hour to reel in.Belobraydic
said the record paddlefish was nearly 6 feet long and measured almost
4 feet around its belly.
Despite its size, there are quite possibly are even bigger
fish cruising Missouri waters, according to Andrew Branson, Fisheries Program
specialist with Missouri Department of Conservation.
He said there are only
five species of native Missouri fish that can grow to weigh 100 pounds or more. It's
possible any of these species could eclipse Belobraydic's huge paddlefish
to become the biggest fish ever caught in Missouri.
- Paddlefish: The largest
official record nationwide is a 144-pound fish from Kansas. (There's an
anecdotal report of a 198-pound fish in Iowa.)
- Alligator gar: The world
record is 279 pounds. (Anecdotal reports suggest they can grow up to
10 feet in length and weigh as much as 350 pounds.)
- Lake sturgeon: The largest
official record is a 240-pound fish from Wisconsin.
- Flathead catfish: The world
record is 123 pounds. (There are reports of another fish weighing 139
pounds, 14 ounces.)
- Blue catfish: The world
record is 143 pounds. (There are anecdotal reports of fish up to 150
pounds or more.)
"It’s quite possible that
fish larger than state and world records have been caught but just not officially
recorded," Branson said.
Read full story here :
There is a legend of a river monster in the
Missouri River.
The Dakota nation have a legend about a Missouri River monster of terrifying
appearance called Miniwashitu . Melvin Randolph Gilmore wrote about Miniwashitu
in 1921.
“It is said that in the long ago there was a mysterious being within
the stream of the Missouri River. It was seldom seen by human beings, and was
most dreadful to see. It is said that sometimes it was seen within the water in
the middle of the stream, causing a redness shining like the redness of fire as
it passed up the stream against the current with a terrific roaring sound. And
they say that if this dreadful being was seen by anyone in the daytime anyone
who thus saw it soon after became crazy and continued restless and writhing as
though in pain until he was relieved by death. And it is said that one time not
a very great many years ago this frightful being was seen by a man, and he told
how it appeared. He said that it was of strange form and covered all over with
hair like a buffalo, but red in color; that it had only one eye in the middle
of its forehead, and above that a single horn. Its backbone stood out notched
and jagged like an enormous saw. As soon as the man beheld the awful sight
everything became dark to him, he said. He was just able to reach home, but he
lost his reason and soon after that he died.”
The story goes that it is still in the river. Could this monster be in fact
one of the large species of fish ?It could be an Alligator Gar or a Sturgeon both
rather prehistoric looking and enough to scare anyone not familiar with
their appearance .When shocked it is easy to miss attribute aspects to an animal
or fish that don’t exist such as a horn .Also eye witness testimony being
unreliable it could just be the story got embellished in the telling. There are
certainly monsters in the river ,monstrous fish .
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