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Tag: angler

  • The Frog in the Fish: A Story of Hope

    The Frog in the Fish: A Story of Hope

    Let’s spoil the story first: the frog is okay, he lived, never underestimate the fighting spirit.

    You never know what you’re going to catch, whether it’s an old boot or General Sherman – trash and treasure hide under the seas. Sometimes your catch gets away, and sometimes your catch’s catch gets away after you caught your catch. What?

    At a swamp an hour north from Townsville, Queensland, Australia, angler Angus James removed a lure from a pierced jungle perch fish he was about to throw back in the water. In the brief split second of removing the hook, he peeked in its gapping mouth and found a little green man staring back at him (a White’s tree frog.)

    “I was shocked,” James told News Limited in Australia. “I thought it might have been grass at first, then it blinked. I always carry a camera, so I took the pic and then he jumps out.”

    Like a get out of jail free card, fate’s hand guided James’ which gave Mr. frog a second chance while singlehandedly annihilating the concept of YOLO and jumping over Mr. James’ head.

    “Everyone keeps saying the frog got its second chance at life.”

    James snapped a picture of the frog in fish prison, posted the photo on Facebook, and overnight, became an internet sensation with 40,000 likes and 2000 comments; one of the comments read: “He [the frog] looks like he’s smiling. I guess I would be too if I were him.”

    “It has gone all around the world,” he told News Limited. “So many people have shared it. There’s people commenting on the photo in languages I don’t even understand.

    News Limited of Australia came up with perfect headline when the story broke: “Excuse me, I think I’ve got a frog in my throat…no really, I do have a frog in my throat.

    Images via Facebook, YouTube

  • Mako Shark Landed in Gulf May Break Record

    Ernie Polk and his cousin Joey Polk landed a shortfin Mako shark off the Floridian Gulf Coast while surfcasting Tuesday, and the fish might be a world record catch. The two spent over an an hour reeling in the 11-foot-long, 805 pound beast directly onto shore, and didn’t disclose the exact location to ward off other fishermen.

    Ernie Polk commented to the The Pensacola News Journal, “That’s probably the best fish we ever caught.” The cousins already hold a combined three world records from the International Land-Based Shark Fishing Association. Ernie Polk captured his first shortfin Mako world record in 2009, reeling in a fish that weighed 674 pounds, at just over 11 feet long. In 2010, Polk landed a 10-foot-9-inch tiger shark that weighed in at 928 pounds, only to have his record beaten the following month by cousin Joey, who caught a 12-foot-9-inch tiger shark weighing 949 pounds.

    The shortfin Mako shark, or Isurus oxyrinchus, which means”sharp nose,” is the fastest of all sharks, and can swim at a sustained 25 miles per hour. They are also high jumpers, sometimes leaping up to 30 feet out of the water, making them highly sought after as game fish. Mako sharks are also prized for their meat, which is commonplace in supermarkets in the northeastern United States. The present world record of an offshore catch of a Mako is an 11-foot-long, 1,323 pound specimen caught off of Huntington Beach, California.

    Here is a clip concerning the record catch:

    The Polks typically release the sharks they catch, but in the case of the Mako, the fight to reel it in had left it too exhausted to swim back out to sea. The Florida cousins loaded the fish into the back of a pickup, and drove it home.

    After clearing some legal paperwork, they plan to sell the meat at market. Ernie commented, “It’s a $10-per-pound fish at the fish market. It’ll sell right along with tuna and swordfish. Between all of us, there won’t be a bit wasted.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons