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Smily this!
Story of `Wobbly' is no ordinary fish tale
Where he came from, how they tried to land him need no exaggeration
Fish tales and other stories:
Back in the early 1990s, the dam of a small pond broke, and its fish escaped. The pond was managed by a group of biologists experimenting with the cross-breeding of Arkansas blue catfish and Wyoming buffalo carp.
Their goal was to create a fish that would grow quickly and be tasty table fare.
One of the free-swimming fish found its way into a 32,000-acre impoundment in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. As soon as the fish discovered open water, it headed upstream and swam for 20 miles.
Its northerly progress was halted by the spillway of a dam that fed the lake from upriver. It was there in the clear, cool tail race waters filled with forage fish, that it took up residence.
In its new environment, the fish quickly grew to gigantic proportions. Year after year, it lazily swam undetected in the deep water below the dam.
By the fourth year, its appearance became somewhat eerie. At first glance, it resembled an oversized channel bass, but a second look revealed a shark-like appearance. The mind's eye saw a fish larger than "Jaws."
It was now too big to hide, and rumors of a local sea monster spread quickly. The fish was named "Wobbly" because it wobbled as it swam. This action was due to a missing fin that some believe was broken when the big fish became lodged between the pilings of the railroad bridge.
Rumor has it that after quite a struggle, it lost the fin trying to free itself from the bridge.
Anglers came from as far away as Mississippi to try their skills at catching Wobbly, but no one did. To lure the fish, one angler gang-hooked a goat to a rope, tied the free end to the bumper of his pickup truck and set the poor goat afloat.
Wobbly couldn't resist a goat swimming on the surface and quickly swallowed it, pulling the truck into the water as it swam away. When the rope finally parted, Wobbly swam freely again at full speed and headed toward the railroad bridge just as a train was passing over the trestle.
The old structure shook from the force of the southbound fish, and the passenger train swayed violently from side to side. The erratic motion of the train caused the bridge pilings to buckle enough to allow Wobbly to squeeze through the opening.
As Wobbly cleared the bridge, the train and its passengers tumbled into the water below.
Rescue workers were on the scene within minutes. Helicopters, fireboats and lake patrol vessels were everywhere and succeeded in rescuing all of the passengers. Most had scrapes and bruises, but none were seriously injured.
An investigation concluded that Wobbly caused the derailment. Afterward, he was nowhere to be found. Some believe he made his way back to the lower end of the lake, where he now makes his home in deep water.
Recently, a state record catfish weighing more than 80 pounds was taken from the lake. Those who saw it thought it looked somewhat like an Arkansas Blue Catfish, while others thought it resembled a Wyoming Buffalo Carp. Could it have been Wobbly's firstborn?
Where he came from, how they tried to land him need no exaggeration
Fish tales and other stories:
Back in the early 1990s, the dam of a small pond broke, and its fish escaped. The pond was managed by a group of biologists experimenting with the cross-breeding of Arkansas blue catfish and Wyoming buffalo carp.
Their goal was to create a fish that would grow quickly and be tasty table fare.
One of the free-swimming fish found its way into a 32,000-acre impoundment in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. As soon as the fish discovered open water, it headed upstream and swam for 20 miles.
Its northerly progress was halted by the spillway of a dam that fed the lake from upriver. It was there in the clear, cool tail race waters filled with forage fish, that it took up residence.
In its new environment, the fish quickly grew to gigantic proportions. Year after year, it lazily swam undetected in the deep water below the dam.
By the fourth year, its appearance became somewhat eerie. At first glance, it resembled an oversized channel bass, but a second look revealed a shark-like appearance. The mind's eye saw a fish larger than "Jaws."
It was now too big to hide, and rumors of a local sea monster spread quickly. The fish was named "Wobbly" because it wobbled as it swam. This action was due to a missing fin that some believe was broken when the big fish became lodged between the pilings of the railroad bridge.
Rumor has it that after quite a struggle, it lost the fin trying to free itself from the bridge.
Anglers came from as far away as Mississippi to try their skills at catching Wobbly, but no one did. To lure the fish, one angler gang-hooked a goat to a rope, tied the free end to the bumper of his pickup truck and set the poor goat afloat.
Wobbly couldn't resist a goat swimming on the surface and quickly swallowed it, pulling the truck into the water as it swam away. When the rope finally parted, Wobbly swam freely again at full speed and headed toward the railroad bridge just as a train was passing over the trestle.
The old structure shook from the force of the southbound fish, and the passenger train swayed violently from side to side. The erratic motion of the train caused the bridge pilings to buckle enough to allow Wobbly to squeeze through the opening.
As Wobbly cleared the bridge, the train and its passengers tumbled into the water below.
Rescue workers were on the scene within minutes. Helicopters, fireboats and lake patrol vessels were everywhere and succeeded in rescuing all of the passengers. Most had scrapes and bruises, but none were seriously injured.
An investigation concluded that Wobbly caused the derailment. Afterward, he was nowhere to be found. Some believe he made his way back to the lower end of the lake, where he now makes his home in deep water.
Recently, a state record catfish weighing more than 80 pounds was taken from the lake. Those who saw it thought it looked somewhat like an Arkansas Blue Catfish, while others thought it resembled a Wyoming Buffalo Carp. Could it have been Wobbly's firstborn?
