Fish Are Nuts

We seemed to be having some technical difficulties, but Jon has taken care of things and hopefully we wont see anymore downtime. In the meantime, check out this guys “technical difficulties.”

Categories: Accidents, Boating, Carp, Entertainment, Fishing, Freshwater, Funny, Oddities, United States, Videos

Tuesday September 30th, 2008 @ 7:45 PM | Clive Mathias | Comments

Zombie Gas

There are a lot of weird things to see here in Halifax. Usually we see these stange things while driving, and never get the camera out in time. Luckily, on this occasion, Gillian had her camera and quickly snapped this photo as we drove by.

CAUTION: poisonous zombie gas

Who knew the city was such a dangerous place?

Categories: Canada, Culture, Non-Fishing

Friday September 26th, 2008 @ 7:42 PM | Clive Mathias | 1 Comment

The Headington Shark

The owner of this house, Bill Heine, commissioned a shark sculpture to be built on his rooftop in 1986. When reports asked why, Bill said:

“The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence and anger and desperation…. It is saying something about CND, nuclear power, Chernobyl and Nagasaki.”

He later added, “That, and sharks are bloody cool!”

“The headless sculpture, with the label “Untitled 1986″ fixed to the gate to the house, was erected on the 41st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Created by the sculptor John Buckley, it is made of fiberglass, weighs four hundredweight, and is 25 feet long.”

via Headington.org

Categories: Art, Incredible, Interesting, News, Oddities, Sharks, United Kindom

Friday September 26th, 2008 @ 7:01 PM | Clive Mathias | Comments

Fish Fence

Fish stuck in a fence thanks to Hurricane Ike.

via Reddit

Categories: Accidents, Fishing, Funny, Interesting, Oddities, Photography, United States

Thursday September 25th, 2008 @ 7:06 PM | Clive Mathias | Comments

Where The Ducks Walk On The Fish

Lake Pymatuning, in Linesville Pennsylvania, is home to thousands of carp. So many in fact, that the ducks have to walk across them.

This unusual attraction is host to several hundred thousand visitors a year. The visitors love throwing bread to the waiting carp, and before long the ducks head over to get in on the action. Although attempts have been made to prohibit the use of bread, the bizarre tradition continues.

More info at Roadside Attraction.

Categories: Carp, Culture, Entertainment, Freshwater, Freshwater Species, Funny, Incredible, News, Oddities, United States, Videos, Wild-life

Monday September 22nd, 2008 @ 6:14 PM | Clive Mathias | 1 Comment

King Grouper

The goliath grouper is the king of the reef, growing upwards of 1000 pounds. In this photo you can see a school of cigar minnows staying close to its side in an effort to avoid predators.

Photo by Douglas David Seifert

“I found this goliath grouper, with its massive mouth and swirling mane of silver fish, lurking in a shipwreck off Jupiter, Florida. The cigar minnows are clustering around it to protect themselves from other predators such as trevally, a type of fish.’ Groupers feed mainly on crustaceans such as lobsters. The goliath grouper is the largest reef fish in the Atlantic, up to 2.5 metres long and weighing up to 363 kilogrammes. But its size has not protected it from being fished almost to extinction in the Atlantic. Though the species is now protected under Florida law, large individuals such as this one are still rare.”

Categories: Art, Grouper, Incredible, Photography, Saltwater, Saltwater Species, United States

Sunday September 21st, 2008 @ 10:37 AM | Clive Mathias | Comments

World Record Roosterfish

I remember the first time I ever saw a roosterfish, it was just a few years ago. When you’ve seen a roosterfish, you never forget it. The defining characteristic of a rooster is their unusual dorsal fin, composed of 7 very long spines. While they feed near the surface, often all that can be seen are these spines.

The roosterfish can be found from southern California to Peru and is known for mostly as a sport fish rather than an eating fish. The current all tackle world record roosterfish is 114 pounds and was caught in La Paz, Mexico.

I think it’s pretty safe to see that the Baja offers the best chances of a new world record and it wouldn’t surprise me if the next world record was caught by a client of Fishermen’s Fleet (They already hold the record for snapper). Word on the street is, a new record has already caught, by a man named Bill Mathias (no relation to me, I think) but it was released to swim another day. Bill has been a longtime client of David’s Fishermen’s Fleet and is said to be one of the best rooster-fishermen in the world.

“It crossed my mind that maybe I ought to keep it,” Mathias said of his 124-pound all-tackle breaker. “It was an obvious world record. But, then I decided I just couldn’t. I have a fixation on those stupid fish. They have such a nice surface strike.” - Bill Mathias

A massive roosterfish, just 4 pounds shy of a world record.

Categories: Charters, Fishing, Incredible, Mexico, News, Roosterfish, Saltwater, Saltwater Species, World Records

Saturday September 20th, 2008 @ 10:14 AM | Clive Mathias | 2 Comments