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Tag: fishing

  • Fisherman Catches Giant Shrimp in Florida

    Fisherman Catches Giant Shrimp in Florida

    We’ve all heard about fishermen catching huge sharks and fish, and now one fishermen in Florida has caught a giant shrimp. And by “giant shrimp,” we don’t mean something that is just a little too big to be used for a shrimp cocktail. According to the man who caught it, this giant crustacean was around 18 inches long.

    Steve Bargeron was fishing off a dock in Fort Pierce, Florida when he felt a strong tug on his line. Most likely thinking that he had caught a nice sized fish, Bargeron reeled in his catch and was stunned by what he had hooked–a giant shrimp. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission posted a few pictures of the shrimp to their Facebook page on Thursday, which have been shared more than 12,000 times.

    Check out the giant shrimp caught by a Florida fisherman below.

    Post by MyFWC.

    For the record, the FWC isn’t certain that this is a shrimp. According to their Facebook page, scientists believe that this could be a mantis shrimp, “which are actually not related to shrimp, but are a type of crustacean called a stomatopod.” Scientists are continuing to work to identify the shrimp, and if it is indeed a mantis shrimp, then Bargeron may be lucky that he didn’t get injured while handling it.

    According to National Aquarium, the mantis shrimp’s clubs can “strike at 50 miles per hour in milliseconds. One strike is 50 times faster than the blink of a human eye! It can punch 50,000 times between molts without damaging its clubs. The punch of a mantis shrimp is so strong that it can break through the shells of its prey and even thick glass.”

    Further, according to a National Aquarium infographic, a mantis shrimp can punch “with speed equal to a .22 caliber bullet.”

    Ouch. To get a better idea of just how strong and quick a mantis shrimp can be, check out a video of a mantis shrimp striking a crab below:

    After the pictures went viral, quite a few Twitter users were understandably disturbed by the giant shrimp the fisherman caught.

    There is no doubt that this shrimp will be used as inspiration for a Shrimpnado movie, right? As scary as a tornado full of sharks is, there is just something much creepier about that giant shrimp.

  • Grouper Fish Makes Shark Its Watery Bitch

    Grouper Fish Makes Shark Its Watery Bitch

    It has been a baaad week for sharks.

    First there was the report of a bull shark that was on the losing end of a battle with an 18-foot crocodile named Brutus.

    While that feisty fish might have gotten away in the end, it’s a different story for this unlucky shark.

    In a new viral video, a group of fishermen capture a shark and grouper fish circling each other. The fisherman seem to have nabbed the four-foot shark based on the line that is clearly attached to the sea creature.

    Being hooked may have put the little guy at a distinct disadvantage, since it didn’t have a chance to flee or defend itself.

    As the filming fishermen were reeling in the captured shark, the grouper fish leaped up and swallowed the shark!

    In a matter of seconds the grouper was gone, leaving behind an amazed group of humans with some great footage.

    Since hitting YouTube a couple of days ago, the shocking video has quickly amassed views. It’s already nearing the four million view mark!

    Perhaps the reason this video is so stunning is that it helps shatter the image of the creature long held by people.

    For many decades sharks have been viewed as extremely terrifying, if not totally invincible—the kings of the ocean.

    Often pictured as larger than life, shark species in fact vary greatly by size and shape.

    This shark was only about four feet in length, which means it lacked the threat of say a Great White shark. The Great White tends to be about 20 feet in length.

    Before you start feeling too confident about your own chances against the shark in the viral video, know this: A shark that size could do some damage…if not drown you!

    So yes, sharks can still be very dangerous to us wimpy humans while being little more than a meal for other fish.

    It all depends on the context of the situation.

  • Chinese Fisherman Nets Whale Shark

    Chinese Fisherman Nets Whale Shark

    A Chinese fisherman netted a 14-foot-long 4,000 pound whale shark over the weekend, and was able to strap the carcass to the roof of a truck and haul it to a fish market in Xiaozhi.

    Fishing for the endangered whale shark is illegal in China, but Fujian province Captain Cai Chengzhu claims that the massive fish was accidently caught in his nets, and died while his crew tried to release it.

    “It’s believed that the giant creature broke the net and got inside to eat the fish we caught. It was really unfortunate and we did our best to free it, but having caught it and because it was already dead, it seemed a shame to waste it,” Chengzhu commented.

    The fisherman was hoping to get between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan (between $1618.52 and $3237.03 USD) for his hard-to-conceal whale shark, before being nabbed by Fujian fishery officials.

    The shark ended up being processed, and the meat was auctioned off at charity prices.

    The whale shark, or Rhincodon typus, is a gentle, slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest of extant fish species. The shark is known to feed off fish trapped in nets, which corroborates Captain Chengzhu’s explanation for his catch.

    The whale shark lives in tropical and warm oceans and is an open ocean-dwelling species. Its average lifespan is roughly 70 years, though some individuals live for a century. The whale shark is the largest existing nonmammalian vertebrate, with the largest confirmed specimen weighing in at 47,000 pounds at 41.5 feet long.

    Image via YouTube

  • Pamela Anderson Saving Faroe Islands Pilot Whales

    Actress Pamela Anderson, along with a handful of other celebrities, are joining roughly 500 volunteers on the Faroe Islands in the remote North Atlantic, in an attempt to stop the mass slaughter of pilot whales.

    “Operation GrindStop” was initiated to save more than 1,000 pilot whales, which are among the largest members of the dolphin family. Locally, the culling of the whales is known as a “grind.” Famed ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem and sailor Florence Arthaud, both from France, are joining the campaign founded by the environmental group Sea Shepherd.

    In a practice which Sea Shepherd refers to as being a “brutal and archaic mass slaughter,” Faroe Islands fishermen herd the cetaceans into a bay using flotillas, and then hack them to death with hooks and knives. Many locals defend the hunt as being their cultural right.

    Here is a graphic clip of a Faroe Islands grind in 2013:

    Anti-grind campaigners suggest that while there was once a need for Faroe Islanders to hunt the whales for food, that need no longer exists.

    Former Baywatch star Anderson commented, “This is not for survival. There are very few things that happen like this that are so brutal. We have to put this behind us and move on, and let the whales swim freely. And I think it’s much more important for us in the future to save our oceans and the biodiversity of our oceans that the whales are very important to.”

    In related Faroe Islands news, back in November of last year, a putrefied whale carcass that washed ashore exploded in a biologist’s face, as he attempted to cut into the 45-foot mass of dead meat.

    Here is the rather graphic clip:

    Incidentally, the Faroe Islands are an island group and archipelago under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The total area of the remote land is approximately 540 square miles.

    The islands have been a self-governing country within the Danish Realm since 1948, and have taken control over most domestic matters over the years. Still, like with most protectorates, Denmark handles military defense, policing, justice, currency and foreign affairs.

    Here is an excellent documentary on the Faroe islands:

    Image via YouTube

  • Great White Shark Bites Man Off California Beach

    A great white shark attacked a man as he was swimming off of Manhattan Beach in southern California Saturday. The 7-foot-long juvenile great white was hooked by a pier fisherman at the time, and the long-distance swimmer got in the way as the shark was thrashing while trying to free itself.

    Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Rick Flores said that the victim suffered moderate puncture wounds to his upper right torso in the attack that occurred at around 9:30 a.m. The victim was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and was conscious and breathing on his own.

    The fisherman, who wishes to remain anonymous after being threatened by local surfers, hooked the great white and spent 30 minutes trying to reel it in before it attacked the swimmer, roughly 300 yards offshore. Surfers in the area heard screams coming from the group of swimmers, and were able to pull the injured man on to a board and paddle him to shore with assistance from lifeguards, after the fisherman cut the line.

    Manhattan beachgoers weren’t too pleased with the anonymous pier fisherman, and the victim’s wife accused him of chumming the water to attract more fish.

    The shark lingered in the area of the attack for roughly 20 minutes, while lifeguards used boats to try to direct it further offshore. It then disappeared into the murky depths, according to Flores. Area beaches remained open, though a mile-long stretch was closed to swimmers as lifeguards made sure no more sharks had come close to shore.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 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

  • Gaviota Pier: Damaging Waves Rip into Popular Fishing Dock

    A historic pier at Gaviota State Beach in Santa Barbara, Calif., collapsed Saturday morning due to damaging waves.

    Gaviota Beach is popular for camping, hiking, and surfing. However, one feature that attracts visiting tourists and local residents is the windy Gaviota Pier.

    Spanish soldiers who decided to call it “La Gaviota,” which means seagull, found the pier in 1769.

    The 529-foot pier is typically opened 24 hours a day and is well-liked by fishermen, but now a chunk of it is gone.

    Eyewitness Jack Crouch said the waves weren’t as big when he and his daughter first arrived, but 10 minutes later they found themselves running to save themselves as the pier started to collapse.

    “We started noticing the pier was shaking and swaying back and forth, so we left the pier,” he said. “I stayed for one more big set of waves and then we ran. It was kind of scary.”

    According to the California Best Beaches website, “a key feature on the pier is the boat hoist.” People can use it to launch recreational boats, but must obtain training, an identification card, and pass inspection before using the hoist.

    Crouch verified to local reporters how the area where fishing usually takes place collapsed “about 200 feet… from the hoist to the end.”

    State Parks Sector Superintendent Eric Hjelstrom said that there were no boats docked at the time of the collapse, but he’s afraid that the pier will soon yield to further damages.

    The Santa Maria Times gave an update Monday on the storm’s status. Rainfall was reportedly less than 3 inches in most surrounding areas including Santa Ynez and San Luis Obispo. Meteorologists predict clear skies for the rest of the week.

    Although the pier at Gaviota Beach was injured pretty severely, the newspaper reported that additional piers were also hit hard by vicious waves:

    “Railings and a pipe on Avila Pier also were broken loose, forcing the closure of that pier. The Pismo Pier was also closed Saturday due to high winds…[and] three boats also broke loose along the south coast, with one smashed into the Goleta Pier.”

    The Gaviota Pier and beach will be closed until further notice.

    Image via YouTube

  • Gaviota Pier Knocked Down by Waves

    Gaviota Pier Knocked Down by Waves

    Surf’s up, but now the pier is down. California surfers have been enjoying the high waves near the state beach’s Gaviota Pier, but according to the Santa Maria Times, it is now unavailable to visitors who fish and launch boats there due to the powerful tides crashing into it.

    Close to 50 feet of the Gaviota Pier is now underwater since Saturday morning; the waves began to assault the pier pilings, and there she blows. One third of the pier was lost in yesterday’s incident, and there will likely be more damage to come. The waves don’t seem to be letting up and Eric Hjelstrom, the sector supervisor for the California State Parks, stated that “once one (a piling) goes, they all go down like dominos.”

    No one was hurt, and no boats were docked at the time of the pier collapse. Hjelstrom has concerns about the boat hoist that still stands– the remaining parts of the pier now directly expose it to the crashing waves.

    The pier was founded in 1769, when soldiers shot an apparently very tasty seagull there and named it “La Gaviota,” which is Spanish for seagull. It is known for being windy, which makes it a popular area for not only fishermen and boaters, but for surfers as well.

    The collapse of the pier now sounds like more canvas for surfers to hang ten, but the beach and pier are closed for safety reasons.

    Micheal Rodrigues captured the pier in a grainy video thats going viral– check it out.

    The reopening of Gaviota Pier has not yet been determined.

    Image via NDN

  • Gillian Anderson Poses Nude For Animal Awareness

    X Files star, Gillian Anderson, is in full support of the Fishlove campaign. To show her support and raise awareness, she posed nude with only an eel wrapped around her neck to cover her breasts. The campaign is dedicated to helping raise awareness of the collapsing fish stocks in the deep British waters.

    “Amazing animals that live in the deep ocean are being systematically destroyed by massive fishing nets that catch or crush everything in their path,” the petition reads. “But in days, the European Parliament could vote to protect one of the world’s most precious deep-sea habitats – and we need to give them the public mandate to do it.”

    “We urge you to phase out the most destructive fishing practices in the Northeast Atlantic, especially deep-sea bottom trawling, and hope that members of your party will vote for the urgently needed protection of vulnerable deep-sea species and habitats,” the petition continues. “This is your legacy. Please ensure that these measures are adopted and protect one of the most fragile and biologically diverse areas of the planet before it’s too late.”

    Anderson is not the only celebrity to take part in the campaign. Actress, Olivia Williams, and rapper, Goldie, also posed nude with sea creatures to help raise awareness.

    The petition currently has 13,887 signatures. “On December 10th Members of the European Parliament can vote to ban the most destructive forms of deep-sea fishing in the Northeast Atlantic,” the petition says. The campaign is hoping to have 20,000 signatures before Parliament votes.

    [Image via Twitter]

  • Maui Shark Attack Kills Fisherman

    Maui Shark Attack Kills Fisherman

    A shark attack in Maui resulted in the death of a kayak fisherman whose foot was severed in the attack. The fisherman, who has been identified by the Maui County Police Department as Patrick Briney Stevenson, was reported to have been fishing with a partner at the time of his attack.

    Briney’s fishing partner allegedly spotted a nearby boat from which he sought help. Briney was taken ashore by the boat and then to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.  According to CNN,  William Dunaway was one of the passengers of the boat that helped to transport Briney’s body. Dunaway reported what he says he witnessed of the incident:

    “We noticed in the distance there was a man in a kayak that was waving to us, and he started paddling over to us. We saw that he was tethered to another kayak. And as he got closer we saw that there was a body lying flat out in the kayak and the body didn’t look good. It had a very odd tint to it, and I think we all realized that there was something wrong.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VacKx9s7q4w

    While shark attacks have been greatly feared (especially since the production of Jaws), marine scientists have always worked hard to assure the public that shark attacks are typically rare and few in number.

    But little consolation comes to those who frequent the waters as well as those who do not, due to the highly televised stories of the most grizzly shark attacks, such as the attack suffered by pro-surfer Bethany Hamilton back in 2003. Hamilton was only 13 years old when she lost her arm to a tiger shark during a morning surf at Tunnels Beach in Kauai.

    And this year, Hawaii has been more shark-infested than usual with a total of 13 shark attacks recorded. Of the 13 incidents, Maui makes up the majority of these attacks with what is being counted now as its eighth attack this year.

    The chairman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources William J. Aila has announced measures toward finding the reason for the increase in shark attacks happening around Hawaii:

    “We are not sure why these bites are occurring more frequently than normal, especially around Maui. That’s why we are conducting a two-year study of shark behavior around Maui that may give us better insights.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

    Video and via Youtube

  • Google Earth Images Reveal Possible Overfishing

    Researchers this week revealed that they may have found overfishing using images from Google Earth.

    The study, published in the ICES Journal of Marine Science, shows that some fishing weirs located in the Persian Gulf are much larger than they are supposed to be. Fishing wiers are large traps that use tides to catch fish not far from shore.

    “This ancient fishing technique has been around for thousands of years,” said Dalal Al-Abdulrazzak, lead author of the study and a PhD student at the University of British Columbia. “But we haven’t been able to truly grasp their impact on our marine resources until now, with the help of modern technology.”

    These traps, according to the study, could be catching up to six times the amount of fish that their host countries have reported officially to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Researchers looked at 1,900 Persian Gulf fishing weirs using data from Google Earth and estimate that around 31,000 tonnes of fish were caught by the traps during 2005. This is far more than the 5,360 tonnes reported to the UN for that year by the seven countries the weirs are located in.

    “Time and again we’ve seen that global fisheries catch data don’t add up,” said Daniel Pauly, a co-author of the study. “Because countries don’t provide reliable information on their fisheries’ catches, we need to expand our thinking and look at other sources of information and new technologies to tell us about what’s happening in our oceans.”

  • “Frankenfish”: Record Set By Virginia Man

    “Frankenfish”: Record Set By Virginia Man

    27-year old Caleb Newton now holds the title for largest northern snakehead catch after the International Game Fish Association declared his June 1st find to be legit.

    Newton caught the 17-pound, 6 ounce, 3-foot long fish on the Potomac River using a 20-pound line, which also earned him recognition. It’s the biggest catch made of that type of fish since 2004, when a fisherman reeled in a 17-pound, 4 ounce fish.

    “His record has been approved and we’ll be sending the certificate later this week, or early next week,” said Jack Vitek, world-record coordinator for the IGFA.

    Newton said he battled with the fish, which has a mouthful of razor-like teeth, for a full minute before he was able to get it in the boat.

    “My friend scooped it in with the net on the first try,” he said. “We were lucky. They’re creepy critters, but the danger is all in how close you put your hands to it.”

    The creature, dubbed “Frankenfish”, isn’t the prettiest sight to behold and can survive in very shallow water. It can also breathe air and can survive on land for up to four days while searching out a new place to call home. As fish go, it’s at the top of the food chain and has no known predators.

  • Fisherman Sues for $1M Contest Winnings

    Every avid fisherman has a story about “the one that got away”. Usually it is a fish that was so big, fought so long, broke line, stripped reel gears, tipped a boat, etc. Fishermen have better stories about the ones that got away than they do about the he loveless they caught, weighed, photographed, stuffed, and mounted.

    But Rodney Ply of Diamond City, Arkansas, has the saddest “one that got away” tale of them all. He had a $1 million dollar prize on the hook, and was left standing in the boat with an empty net.

    According to ABC News, Ply entered a contest, called the “Hook-a-Million” contest, that offered one million dollars to and fisherman that caught a record-breaking fish using a Mustad-brand hook. In February of last year, Ply caught a striped-bass that weighed in at 68 pounds. According to contest rules, that fish qualified. Ply figured he’d won. However, his lawsuit states that the International Game Fish Association’s executive committee “denied certification of the fish, enigmatically classifying the lure plaintiff used as an illegal spreader bar.”

    Ply thought something smelled fishy. He said he is not professional fisherman. That’s not how he makes his living. He owns North Arkansas Concrete and is an Army veteran.

    “I love to fish,” he said. “I’m just an everyday fisherman. I didn’t want to go legal. They just left me no choice.”

    Ply says he followed contest rules to the letter. He sent photos of the fish hanging from a scale approved in the rules, as well as photos of the homemade lure that he used, of his rod and reel, and the 68-pound fish. He says that his lure was a homemade spinner lure that could never be construed as a “spreader bar”.

    Ply’s attorneys said, “Mr. Ply is your average hardworking decorated veteran who was invited to compete in a competition and as an avid angler he was excited about fulfilling any fisherman’s dream, which is to catch a world record fish. He followed all the rules and he was blessed and gifted enough to succeed at something that everyone dreams of and all he wants is what was promised to him.”

  • Tuna Capsizes Boat, Nearly Kills Fisherman

    Tuna Capsizes Boat, Nearly Kills Fisherman

    When most people think of Hawaii, they think of luaus, volcanoes, gorgeous sunsets over calm waters. Paradise, in other words. Those who go fishing in those waters know that the surf can be rough–especially during their “winter” months–but these aren’t “Deadliest Catch” conditions. However, one man recently had the fight of his life while battling a monstrous tuna off the coast of Kauai, and the tuna almost won.

    Anthony Wichman reeled in the 230-pound Ahi fish and fought with it in his 14-foot boat, eventually stabbing it in the eye with a gaffe–a long pole with a sharp hook on the end–in order to get it under control. But that only made the fish angry, and it managed to jump back into the water with the line still attached to it. Unfortunately, it also wrapped around Wichman’s ankle and he went overboard, too, flipping the boat as he went.

    “He gaffed it once in the back, and the second gaffe went straight into the fish’s eye and that caused the fish to take a final dive,” said Anuhea Wichman, whose father called her during his fight with the fish. “And [the fish] dove straight down, and the line wrapped around my dad’s ankle and pulled him overboard.”

    Luckily, Wichman had his cell phone with him that day. His daughter called the coast guard and they used his signal to track him down in the water. As he was being rescued, friends of the family found the boat and towed it to shore, where they found the fish still attached. Wichman told them to keep it as a gesture of his appreciation.

    This is far from the first wild story about sea life we’ve heard this year; earlier this month, a Nantucket man caught a 200-pound sand shark in his boat and wrestled him on the beach with his bare hands.

  • 200-Year-Old RockFish Caught in Alaska

    They say that everything is bigger in Texas, but the world’s biggest rockfish was caught pretty far away from the land of spurs and cowboy hats. Henry Liebman, an Alaskan real estate developer, hooked a record-breaking beast about ten miles off the coast of Sitka on June twenty first.

    The former record-holding rockfish had had its age estimated to be around 175-years-old, and the specimen that Liebman caught is estimated to be around 200-years-old since it is quite a bit bigger than the previous record-holder.

    Rockfish do not stop growing once they reach adulthood, and proceed to get larger the older they become. This information comes in handy when trying to estimate how old a rockfish might be. The information is surely not unknown to Liebman, who has been in avid pursuit of rockfish for years now.

    In his interview with ABC News, Liebman went on to state, “I’ve been fishing all my life and I went out targeting this species… I just wanted to try and catch one because no one fishes for them.”

    The lack of active hunters of the fish is for good reason; rockfish live in the deep ocean, where most fishermen won’t go, either out of fear or lack of means. Liebman released a massive amount of bait about 900 feet beneath the ocean’s surface in pursuit of his target. It seems that his efforts have certainly paid off.

    The fish, weighing in at nearly forty pounds, has broken an Alaskan state record for largest fish caught. The fish’s exact age is yet to be determined, but a few things are for sure; it is big, ugly, ancient, and magnificent.

    When questioned by ABC News on the topic of his epic fisherman’s tale, Liebman was quoted as saying, “I think it’s just a kick. You know for some people something so old is out of their perspective. So you have fun with it.”

  • Deadliest Catch Star Missing? Elliot Neese Absent in Season 9 Preview

    For the past two seasons, Elliot Neese has been captaining the Ramblin Rose as the youngest captain on the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch. This season, however, Discovery has teased that Neese may have lost his job commanding the Rose.

    A first-look trailer for the ninth season of Deadliest Catch was released this week, and Neese’s absence seems to be a large part of the storyline. His fellow sailors are seen wondering why Neese is missing as they prepare to embark on the treacherous crab fishing season on the Bering Sea.

    Sig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern, doesn’t seem surprised that Neese hadn’t yet shown up, saying, “No owner’s gonna let a guy own a boat and not produce. You’re gonna lose your job.”

    However, as with all things reality TV, what is shown is not necessarily the truth. It seems that the season preview is simply a teaser meant to build tension before Neese’s return.

    According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Neese has gone a staggering $1 million into debt to own his own boat, named F/V Saga. Neese has even bragged about his return to the show via his Twitter account: