08-14-2001, 02:57 PM
Edinburgh man lands foreign fish<br><br>By BY RYAN MOORE<br>Daily Journal Staff Writer<br><br>August 11, 2001 Don Elliott of Edinburgh is an avid fisherman, but he’s never caught anything like what he snatched Thursday.<br><br>When Elliott went nightfishing at a gravel pit pond off U.S. 31 on Wednesday night, he was hoping to snag a catfish. Instead, he caught something quite different: a two-pound, two-ounce South American pacu.<br><br>The catch of the day happened at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.<br><br>Elliott noticed what he thought was a muskie plopping about five feet off the pond’s bank. Not one to shy away from a good catch, Elliott didn’t hesitate to start the hunt.<br><br>Finally, after waiting more than an hour, Elliott felt a tug from his reel as he struggled to pull the fish to land.<br><br>“At first, I thought it was just a big bluegill,” Elliott said, “but then I realized there aren’t many bluefish that big.” <br><br>The fish was about 14 to 16 inches long, though not measured by Elliott.<br><br>Elliott took the fish to the Department of Natural Resources later Thursday, who identified it as a pacu, which are prevalent in the Amazon Basin of South America.<br><br>Pacus have a silver body with a red-tinged tail and resemble piranhas when very young. They have a rather peaceful demeanor and feed off of ripe fruit and nuts that are dropped in rivers.<br><br>Elliott’s fish is now “in a neighbor’s freezer,” awaiting to be eaten by the Elliotts and the elderly woman storing it.<br><br>Being so rare, Elliott nearly decided to mount the pacu on his wall, but then changed his mind.<br><br>“Too expensive,” he said. <br><br>You can see a picture at <br><br>http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?UID=20303895&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=23367<br><br>