Free Republic

Fish flies out of lake, breaks Arkansas teen's jaw Sun Sep 7, 8:26 PM ET LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a fishing tale that packs a wallop so strong it broke the jaw of a southeastern Arkansas teen and covered him in fish blood and guts. Seth Russell, 15, of Crossett, was cruising Lake Chicot on a large inner tube towed by a boat when a Silver Asian carp leaped from the water and smacked him in the face. Seth was knocked unconscious. "He doesn't remember anything at all," the boy's mother, Linda Russell, said last week. "He was laughing,...

26 dead, 297 injured and two left traumatised. Matt Clarke takes a look at 19 painful incidents involving fish from the depths of the news archives... We've scoured the Practical Fishkeeping news archives to dredge up some of the weird and terrifying incidents involving fish that we've covered in the past few years... Attack of the 'willy fish'The legendary candiru, or 'willy fish' as it sometimes less politely called, is known about well outside its native range in the freshwater rivers of the Amazon basin. These small catfish are parasites and normally live in the gills of very large catfishes,...

ROCK BLUFF, Fla. — A woman was injured over the weekend by a leaping sturgeon, the latest incident involving the flying fish on Florida's Suwannee River, officials said. Tara Spears, 32, was knocked unconscious by the animal on Sunday while boating on the river north of Rock Bluff, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was expected to recover, the agency reported. The large, prehistoric-looking sturgeon have hard plates along their backs. They can grow up to 8 feet long and up to 200 pounds. In April, a leaping...

When he saw a companion on his boat hook a giant fish during a sea angling contest, Ian Card was delighted. Next second, the scene of triumph turned to horror - as the 14ft blue marlin leapt out of the water across the vessel and speared Mr Card through the chest with its spiked bill. The impact of the 800lb fish knocked him overboard into the Atlantic off Bermuda. Then, with a thrash of its tail and with the 32-year-old still impaled and bleeding profusely, it dragged him underwater. Terribly injured, he somehow stayed conscious as he struggled to pull...

WILDWOOD, Fla. - A man riding a personal watercraft on the Suwannee River was injured after a 4-foot-long sturgeon jumped out of the water and hit him, wildlife officials said. Blake Nicholas Fessenden, 23, was heading north on the Suwannee River Sunday just north of the Hart Springs Sand Bar when he was hit and fell off the craft, according to a statement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Fessenden was knocked unconscious. His girlfriend was riding another watercraft behind him and was able to get to Fessenden and hold his head above water before passengers on another...

Fisherman impaled by giant fish as it leapt across boat A FISHERMAN is recovering after being impaled on the bill of a 14ft blue marlin that leapt over his boat during an international angling tournament off Bermuda. The 800lb (360kg) fish hit Ian Card with such force that its 3ft spear went through his chest just below his collarbone and knocked him into the sea. As the fish dived, forcing Mr Card under water, he was able to push himself off the razor-sharp bill and swim to the surface. His father Alan, 58, the skipper of the commercial angling boat...

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) -- A fisherman was recovering from surgery after he was speared in the chest and knocked into the Atlantic Ocean by a blue marlin during a fishing competition off Bermuda's coast. Ian Card, 32, was in stable condition at King Edward VII Hospital in the British Island territory from a wound that his doctor said could have been fatal.

Large Fish Catches Boy in Minnesota DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - An 11-year-old boy was out hunting frogs on Island Lake when he became the prey. A large fish, probably a muskellunge or a northern pike, attacked the boy about 5 p.m. Thursday as he and his young sister were wading in a foot of water. The resulting wounds on Mason DeRosier's feet and hands required 11 stitches to close. Mason's father, Richard DeRosier, was in a paddle boat just offshore during the attack. DeRosier, a Lake County deputy sheriff, said he was facing the children when he saw a huge...

Giant catfish claims latest victim - a dog 30 August 2004 BERLIN - A giant catfish is suspected of having eaten a dog in a German lake near the Polish border. The estimated 1.5 metre catfish has been making waves in the small lake near Gueldendorf for several years, the Berliner Kurier newspaper reported. Catfish are generally scavengers that feed on plants and animals on the beds of laks and rivers. They can on rare occasions grow up to 4.5 metres and weigh up to 300 kilos. But the giant fish has developed other tastes and is emptying the lake...

Catfish eats dogFrom correspondents in Berlin August 29, 2004A GIANT catfish is suspected of having eaten a dog in a German lake near the Polish border. The estimated 1.5m catfish has been making waves in the small lake near Gueldendorf for several years, according to the Berliner Kurier newspaper. Catfish are scavengers that feed on plants and animals on the beds of lakes and rivers. They can, on rare occasions, grow up to 4.5m and weigh as much as 300kg. But the giant fish has developed other tastes and is emptying the lake of all the other fish. Now a...

Large Fish Catches Boy in Minnesota - DULUTH, Minn. An 11-year-old boy was out hunting frogs on Island Lake when he became the prey. A large fish, probably a muskellunge or a northern pike, attacked the boy about 5 p.m. Thursday as he and his young sister were wading in a foot of water. The resulting wounds on Mason DeRosier's feet and hands required 11 stitches to close. Mason's father, Richard DeRosier, was in a paddle boat just offshore during the attack. DeRosier, a Lake County deputy sheriff, said he was facing the children when he saw a huge swirl...