By
Chris Vogt
Lindenwald Ledger
Senior Writer
Thursday, September 13, 2007
FAIRFIELD TWP. — Two local teens hooked what they thought was a piranha while fishing in the Lakewood Subdivision Lake in Fairfield Township on Wednesday.
Lindenwald resident Jimmy Vogt, 19, and his girlfriend Caitlin Brewer, 20, had dipped the poles for nearly three hours before possibly snagging a pacu, which is a member of the piranha family.
“I was like, ‘This is one messed up looking fish,” Vogt said after reeling it in at around 3 p.m. “You know how you put your fingers in their mouth to put it up for pictures? I was going to do that, but Caitlin told me to stop because she saw the small teeth.”
Pacus feed off vegetarian matter and can grow as big as three feet, but are not as aggressive as the piranha.
“We knew it was a different kind of fish,” Vogt said. “We didn’t know what to do. We threw it back in because it’s a catch-and-release lake, but we got pictures though. Caitlin’s dad (Bobby) said it looked like a piranha, but we didn’t know for sure.”
According to local12.com, it’s the second pacu caught in the Tri-State this year. 10-year-old Kyle Owens caught one near Chilo along the Ohio River back in June.
Vogt said the fish gave him a fight, just like any other larger fish would do. He compared reeling it in to the two bass and two catfish he caught before hooking the possible pacu.
“When her dad said it was a piranha, I freaked out,” Vogt said. “It shouldn’t be in there in that kind of water, certainly if someone would fall in.”
Vogt said the fish might have been around five pounds and a foot long.
The Hamilton Journal-News and Local 12 also got a hold of the story.
Contact this reporter at chris.vogt@lindenwaldledger.com or by phone at (513) 258-3263.