Comments on: Man fishing for bluegills catches shark by hand instead

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 16:51:57 +0000

Snappers, of course, are a totally different thing in other places.

This particular reporter was almost certainly referring to the FW fish; this is Minnesota. But yes, what we all call fish is historically complex and quirky. Consider the Alwewife. I spent some time researching that … I did archaeology on the very spot that the Alewife was “named” …. There is not good explanation.

Now, can someone please explain to me the difference between a “cod” and a ‘scrod” and a “schrod” ?????

By: Richard Chapman

Richard Chapman — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:44:16 +0000

@ John Pieret

It was just off Lloyd’s Neck near Target Rock, 1968.

By: John Pieret

John Pieret — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 01:15:56 +0000

On Long Island in my youth (a very long time ago) we called the young blue fish, that haunted the many bays, “snappers.” But “bluegills” sounds familiar and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people used it to mean snappers/blue fish.

It has to be remembered that English is a language invented by Norman soldiers trying to get laid by Anglo-Saxon tavern wenches.

By: Richard Chapman

Richard Chapman — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 22:40:46 +0000

I used to fish for striped bass with my tree surgeon boss (many, many years ago). While fishing one day I witnessed a school of blue fish feeding on a school of bunkers. There were several small fishing boats in where the blues were feeding. It was a feeding frenzy over an area of about a third of an acre. My boss, who knew a lot about fish, said the blue fish work themselves up into such a state that they just rip into the bunkers without bothering to eat them. The water around the boats was alive with splashes and frothing. It was a sight I will never forget.

If anyone of those fishermen out there fell into the water I think he would have been bitten many times. I’ve seen one bite from a blue fish, it took a chunk out of a guy’s foot. That was after it landed in the boat and it wasn’t even a big one.

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:15:44 +0000

Bull sharks have been documented in the Amazon as far inland as Iquitos, Peru. In the Mississippi, as far as Alton, IL. I don’t know that one has been caught on hook and line very far inland in the USA.

By: Artor

Artor — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 20:20:05 +0000

I was waiting for the shark to whip around and take his foot off.