Hello, Crazy Fishermen!
Finally, after a long time of suffering and dedication to college, I had some free time to go out fishing (and some time to write the blog).
Today I went to the Pennypack Creek with my friend NG (Welsh street area), hoping to fish some trout with spinners, power bait, nightcrawlers, etc. For our surprise, we found something quite incredible at the creek (not your regular rainbow trout, for sure). As the name of the post implies, we found and fished a PACU fish from the Pennypack Creek! How crazy is that, huh?
Since the Creek is actually shallow, the fish could be seen from a distance. We moved closer, taking a good look at it. The interesting part is how my friend NG identified the fish right away as a "Pacu", hence he had some of them as pets previously. That got me extremely surprised, especially because I would never expect a North American to identify its species. Myself, I've seen many of them back in Brazil; therefore, I could easily identify it. After a couple tries, we were able to fish it and hold it in our hands!
But well...what exactly is a Pacu fish?! And more surprisingly: what was it doing in Philadelphia's wilderness?! If these facts didn't surprise you yet, you just have to read a little bit more about it to find out how interesting this fish can be.
For example...
Did you know that the Pacu is from the Piranha family, and traditionally from South America?
Did you know that the Pacu has powerful teeth like those of a cow, capable of opening nuts?
Did you know that there were two incidents involving Pacus and human beings, where the fish bit off the genitals of those men (Ouch!), and they bled to death?
Hey...this is certainly not a joke, even though it sounds surreal (sound like a movie, right?). For more information, you can read about the Pacu fish on the websites below:
This is absolutely not the first time I've fished a Pacu. Back in my country (Brazil), Pacu is a traditional fish known for its great table share, and its fighting power as well. As you may have read in the websites above, they can get extremely big, meaning that this fish is considered an awesome game fish in Brazil.
However, it's not only weird to see one of those in the wild, here in Philadelphia, but also wrong. The fact that they are not naturally from here means that this fish is considered an invasive species if found in public waters. My best guess is that this Pacu was probably raised by certain people, and released in the Creek for certain reasons that I cannot determine (the same happens with a lot of Goldfish).
The fish itself was in pretty bad shape when we fished it, having a bloody fin, and some injury in its body. This fish was the only Pacu we spotted at that portion of the Creek, and hopefully the only one! If these species were to adapt and survive in fresh water, the consequences would be monstrous. As you may have read in the website above (river monsters), Pacu fish WILL eat other species of fishes if its natural source of food runs out. Therefore, if someone ever finds one of these swimming around, it's wisely advised to not return it (you should actually enjoy playing the fish, and eat it later - they are delicious).
Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to take pictures of the environment today. Therefore, I'll end the post only with the two pictures I have:
The secret pond at Pennypack. If you find it, be advised: THERE IS fish inside it. =)
The legendary "lost Pacu" at Pennypack Creek. Hopefully the only one. I had never expected to find one of these, sincerely...Best of luck for all of us! It's cold right now...so what? The fish is still out there! Also, there will be a couple posts coming up soon: "Wind, Current, and Setting the Hook" - a post about variables that trouble our lives when we fish, and aids people in the process of setting up the hook and hooking the fish; "It's cold...so what?" - a post on certain fishing options that fishermen have here in Philadelphia during winter time; and "Catfish, and its Special Sense" - a post on the "6th sense" of the Catfish family: how it works, and why should we know about it. I'm working on all of them, but I wasn't really able to finish them yet. However, expect them to be here in a matter of weeks!
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.
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