16th July 2009

Text

Girl catches catfish twice her size

What is it with these school-aged sportfishergirls catching enormous prizes? First there was 6-year-old Tegan Humphrey in Alaska, now 11-year-old Jessica Wanstall of Sittingbourne, Kentucky, has landed a nearly 9-foot catfish that weighs 193 pounds.

The catch sets a new world record for biggest freshwater fish caught by an angler under 16 years old, according to the International Game Fish Association (via the Daily Mail).

“My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn’t feel small when I picked up the rod,” says Wanstall. “It was really hard work pulling it in and my arms turned to jelly.”

Wanstall waged a 20-minute battle to land her prize.

Tags fishingcatfishencounters

6th May 2009

Text

These sea beasts are out of control

Two of this week’s Digg.com favorites aim to enlighten us about the largest and the oddest sea creatures ever seen. In the first category, we’ve got the famous Mekong catfish (above), a nearly 9-foot mammoth as heavy as a grizzly bear that was caught in Thailand. In the second category, we have the Leafy Sea Dragon, a variety of seahorse that sports weedy fins as camouflage. (Caution: some of the other beasts on the “oddest” list aren’t this pretty. One looks like a giant bedbug.)

Tags cookingdiscoveriesfishcatfishseahorses