Wednesday 27 March 2019

Monster or Monstrous Fish?


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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