This Is Fly Issue 20

The latest issue is hot off the virtual press, check it out!

New Zealand Fisherman Catches New World Record Colossal Squid

Not to be left out in all the Giant Squid news, the Colossal Squid makes its appearance with a new world record. The first ever adult colossal squid to be landed intact, weighted in at an estimated 450kg (990 lbs) and 10m (33 ft) long, and over two hours to land. The Colossal Squid is the largest known squid family in the world normally found in deep Antartic waters where the men were fishing for Patagonian Toothfish when the squid, also feeding on the toothfish, was caught. The fisherman quickly realized the importance of such a catch and took great care to make sure the specimen was in good condition freezing it below deck.

One expert said calamari rings made from it would be the size of tractor tires.

Saturday Reading

• Canadian shark – The Underwater Times reports that a Quebec woman catches large rare rare shark while ice fishing.
• New Zealand shark – According to TVNZ, a huge six metre long great white shark has been sighted off the coast of Taranaki.
• China tragedy - Xinhuanet.com reports that a fishing boat caught fire on the Yellow Sea.
• 100 days on a raft – Where do I sign up for this? “The greatest fishing trip
• Weird catch – Bass fishing pro, Steve Daniel, reveals his weirdest catch at bassresource.com.
• Scary catch – The Sun Times repports that two teens have discovered a human head in the water while fishing in Florida.
• Table manners – The Underwater Times report that a dog trainer has been teaching sharks new feeding behavior.
• Pink dolphins – Traveling to Hong Kong? According to CNN, it is one of the best places in the world to see the rare pink dolphin.

Friday Fishing Fun

It’s Friday again, and Im sure you know what that means! Friday Fishing with On The Patio, of course. If you haven’t seen the Friday Fishing posts before be sure to check them out. But you might want to wait until you get home because most of it is very NSFW.

If you need help making it through those last few minutes, or hours, at work we’ve got a great time-waster for you this evening. MyPlayCity has an awesome collection of downloadable games to play for almost any occasion, but we recommend checking out Crazy Fishing!

In other news- Robbie Angus, a grade school student, landed a new world record Black Marlin, for the under 12 age group, to compliment the world record Blue Marlin that he caught previously.

In February the intermediate school pupil scored a world record blue marlin and now he’s added a black. Fishing with his father, John, aboard the Allure out of Cairns, Angus junior hooked a 256.5kg black that will set a record for under-12s if ratified by the International Game Fishing Association.

They were in Cairns specifically to try for the record as Robbie’s 12th birthday approached. It was a good trip for the family with John winning the annual Lizard Island tournament with a black marlin in excess of 400kg.

I’ve got a few more posts coming tomorrow. Including some information on how get your kids out for world record fish, and how to properly document the event for judges. Again my appologies but work has been very busy this week.

Fishing Net Snags 15-Foot Great White Shark

Warrick Harris was fishing several miles off the coast of New Zealand when he found a female shark barely alive, trapped in his net. A New Zealand marine scientist with the Conservation Department said that it was the largest shark he had ever examined, weighing over 3,500 pounds and about 15 feet long. The average size of great white sharks around New Zealand is less than 10 feet. Harris is trying to sell the sharks jaws and fins to collectors.

“‘Jaws’ was the exact reaction, really,” Harris said. “It was quite unbelievable. (I) just couldn’t get over the sheer size of it.”

Story via NBC 17, includes pictures & video clip.