14 yr old attacked by Muskie
Don B. Almars
Don B. Almars
A Muskie attacked a 14yr old boy on a lake about a half hour west of
the Twin Cities on Wednesday. He was swimming in a so called protected
swimming area just splashing about having fun. The kid required around
80 stitches on his hand. The DNR netted the swim area and they came up
with a 38 in. Muskie. {Really not that big.} The guy from the DNR said
the chances of this happening again are about like winning the
lottery.Next time you go skinny-dipping, think of this post and ask
yourself "do I feel lucky today??!!
Don :}
Herb B. Berscheid
<no text with original post>
Just to give all the actual story:
On Wednesday a 14 year old boy was swimming in the swimming area on Lake
Rebecca near Delano, MN (25 miles west of Minneapolis) when he was bit on
the hand by a muskie. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where
he received some 80 stiches to repair the damage. He is expected to fully
recover and has said he will go swimming there again - as soon as he is
able.
The press jumped all over this story here in MN and blew everything out
of proportion. They estimated the fish to be as much as 5 feet long
and weigh as much as 60 pounds. They also made the attack out to be very
violent.
What actually happenned is this: The swimming area is screened off from
the rest of the lake to keep weeds and fish out. Somehow a 38 inch, 13
pound muskie got inside and couldn't find its way out. So the fish got
very hungry and when it saw the kids' hand dangling in the water, it
thought it was food and bit it. The kid then pulled back and injured his
hand. The DNR has caught the fish, took it out of the swimming area, and
released it on the other side of the lake.
Big deal.
I fish this lake often for Muskies and was suprised by the press
over-reaction. There are some 48 inch, even a few 50 inch Muskies in
there, 35 lbs tops. There are no five footers or 60 pounders or any
other world-record class fish in there. Its just a nice little lake
that is fun to fish. There are many other lakes in the area with much
bigger muskies than exist in Rebecca. Independence, Minnetonka, Bald
Eagle, Calhoun, and Harriet to name a few.
Just thought a few of you might want to know what actually happenned,
Herb
DonaldW177
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What actually happenned is this: The swimming area is screened off from
the rest of the lake to keep weeds and fish out. Somehow a 38 inch, 13
pound muskie got inside and couldn't find its way out. So the fish got
very hungry and when it saw the kids' hand dangling in the water, it
thought it was food and bit it. The kid then pulled back and injured his
hand. The DNR has caught the fish, took it out of the swimming area, and
released it on the other side of the lake.
I guess you know your lake is in real trouble. Congressman X has already
introduced a bill to ban Automatic Feeding Muskies of the 38in/13lb type.
He says too many young people are being hurt by them and they should not
be readly available to the hands of the young. Janet Reno has promised
swift action in support of the bill. Film at eleven!
Herb B. Berscheid
Yeah, the fish are really biting there. Was out there Saturday morning
and my brother caught a 36 incher just out from the swimming area. Somehow
the critter managed to bite me when I was removing the hook. Then my
brother held the fish up for a picture and it managed to bite him when he
was putting it back in the lake. After some direct pressure and bandages
we were back fishing. Good grief.
I never had that happen before and I've handled many Muskies and
big Northerns. From now on, I'm using a steel mesh glove when handling
big fish.
And so it goes,
Herb
Pete >-M->
Many many moons ago, when the world was young, there was a similar report
of a kid being attacked in the UK by a pike (muskie?). The child was bitten
across the arm while swimming in a small pond and promptly made for shore
and was attacked again. The lad punched the fish hard between the eyes and
it let go!
A while later a dead, large but emaciated pike was recovered from the pond. It
was starved. Thus the similarity with the earlier posts. If food fish were
kept out of the swimming area, the pike was hungry.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Marrow
e_mail: e_...@va.nmh.ac.uk
work: http://ui.nmh.ac.uk/gsrg.html
play: http://www.gorp.com/gorp/activity/scottish_ff_faq.htm
Jose Colon
writes:
>Janet Reno has promised swift action in support of the bill.
I'd like to see Janet firebomb some muskie under water! Of course, we'd
all need to be more careful wading with all the angry green muskie
forming fish militia terrorist groups. Makes for risky skinny
dipping....
8^)
Mark Crafts
> Just thought a few of you might want to know what actually happenned,
Maybe, but I just thought of some easily acquired bait!
Mark
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Mark Crafts Melbourne FL
mcr...@su5s.ess.harris.com | cra...@iia2.org
"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."