Secretly found in secret in the wilds of South Eastern PA.

Anywho, some ancient guy was out fishing during the day today by me and reeled in a 16inch pacu. He only fishes for sport, knew it wasn't something native, but didn't want to kill it. So he threw it in a bucket, and brought it over to the fish and boat commission office by the lake.

Turns out to be one of the fish and boat people I know, who's been over bringing turtles before and who's seen my pond of pacu. He couldn't remember just what they were but he knew I had them. So, they called, he told me the whole story. Being the sucker that I am, I said yes, I'd take him.

Now, I don't go fishing. I have no patience for all that standing still and not moving while waiting for the fish thing. But, the old guy that found him couldn't get the hook out since it put up too much of a fight. I thought we were going to have to knock his ass out to get the hook out. I'm assuming it all depends on the fish and where the hook hits, but damn. There's something I don't want to have to do again.

I got nipped as well for it. I knew, both from feeding them and reading about them, that they have some power in those jaws. It's quite another thing to feel it. Something on par with getting your finger caught in a door. Didn't break the skin (it was only on a fingertip) but profanities were spoken at a high volume.

hahahahh.....thats what you get for being a sucker

Ouch! Try some needle nose pliers next time. It'll save your fingers.

I couldn't get at it good with the pliers if I had my curved forceps with me I'd have been set. The hook was caught down left into the meaty part of jaw.

I'm guessing the hooks the guy was using weren't meant for pacu.

lol...he wasn't targeting pacu in PA? How's the new guy doing?

He's looking good. I'm assuming the hook didn't bother him too much. He's eating with great gusto, and like the rest of 'em here is in love with grapes and frozen peas.

I'm going to keep him isolated for a while to make sure he doesn't have worms or anything weird since he was loose in the wild. Provided he's clean, I'll see how this one does with the lot of 'em in early August or so.

I'll be back up to 6 and at max pacu capacity again. I love 'em but there's no way I'm building them anything even bigger.