Another Animal Death Mystery

Thousands of dead turtle doves fell from the sky in Faenza, Italy in yet adding to all the other strange animal deaths happening around the world. Adding to the mystery the birds were all found with strange blue stains on their beaks.

This mystery however, was just a case of indigestion caused by overeating. The turtle doves gorged themselves on seeds, which caused indigestion and hypoxia, the lack of oxygen eventually killed them.

Really though, bird deaths aren’t that uncommon- that said you can now track the “Aflockalypse” on google maps.

via Daily Mail.

New Wels Catfish World Record

I love reading about new world records, especially when its a freshwater fish that exceeds 250 pounds! This enormous wels catfish is nearly 8 pounds more then the current world record!

Guided by IGFA Certified Captain Alberto Bartoli and using shrimp forbait, Roberto Godi of Arcole Veroma, Italy landed a potential IGFA All-Tackle record after catching a wels (Silurus glanis) on February 5. The giant fish weighed 113.5 kg (250 lb 3 oz) which Godi caught while fishing Italy’s River Po. He said the fish fought for 45 minutes before he was able to pull it to shore onto a smooth surfaced mat where it was weighed, photographed and released alive. The current IGFA record is 242 lb 8 oz (110 kg) caught February 2009 also from the River Po.

Fifty Inch Pike!

Check out this super long Italian pike that measured over 50 inches (127cm)!!

via Jackson Lures

Mystery Pike No More

I got an email the other day with some info on the mystery pike we posted last year. Looks like this beauty was definitely caught in Italy as we had first believed. The second mystery pike was caught in France! I can’t confirm yet if they are 100% true, but at least its a start!

I only wanted to tell you that the monstrous pike in the photo in the attachment has been caught in the 2006/2007 winter in the Lake Maggiore, in northern Italy and it was released after the photo.

This fish was caught in France. It was in a lake which name is Pareloup (in Aveyron). The lucky fishermen were Philippe COSTE and Arnaud FOISSAC and the fish’s weight was 19,4kg (43Lbs) and the length was 1.37m (53.9 in)

Mystery Pike

During my many wasted hours of reading up on pike fishing, I stumbled across a photo of another monstrous pike on a Netherlands fishing site. I wanted to know more about the big fish, but the entire site was of course in Dutch. After translating the text with Babel Fish (of course), I was able to determine that this fish is a mystery fish, its size and weight unknown. Rumor has it the fish is from Italy, which would make it the second huge pike we have seen from the boot shaped country. I guess there is more to Italy then soccer, pasta and super cars after all.

If you have an details on this photo, please let us know.

On the topic of mystery pike, I’d love to know details about the other Italian pike too…

World Record Pike

The current world record northern pike is a 55 pounder (25kg) caught by Lothar Louis of Germany in 1986. This is a record I believe will be beaten in the near future. Huge pike are being caught throughout Canada and the Europe that could be potential records.

55.1lbs caught in Lake of Grefeern, Germany Oct. 16, 1986

In Canada, at least two Provinces have potential for a future record fish. Both Ontario and Manitoba produce pike over 50 inches each year. Jon and I have seen first hand the huge pike northern Ontario has to offer. Ontario’s current record is just over 42 pounds while Manitoba holds claim to what is perhaps the longest pike ever caught, measuring an estimated 70 inches.

Canadian Pike versus European pike

edit: Then again, maybe the next world record pike will come from Italy.