MagnumJr (US)

 Fisherman wants help displaying it

By Christy Strawser
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

Toby Davison, 43, of St. Clair Shores, pulled an 18-inch piranha out of Lake St. Clair
David Dalton
A routine fishing trip turned bizarre for Toby Davison, 43, of St. Clair Shores, who pulled an 18-inch piranha out of Lake St. Clair.

"On the line, I knew it wasn't normal," Davison said. "It was really fighting against the metal."

Davison, a longtime fisherman, wrangled the snaggle-toothed predator back to his home base on the Nile Mile pier in St. Clair Shores, with the fish protesting all the way. When it finally popped out of the water, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I just saw those teeth," Davison said about the 4-and-a-half pound catch he snagged with a long shank hook between 4 and 5 p.m. Aug. 15. "Usually I catch bluegill, crappie, large and small mouth bass. Nothing like this."

Shocked, he packed the fish in ice and took it to the Department of Natural Resources office at South River Road and Jefferson in Harrison Township. Staff there confirmed he had a piranha, a carnivorous fish that lives in warm South American freshwater.

"They told me I caught a piranha and then they said 'Congratulations, because you will probably never catch something like this again,'" said Davison, who works for a lawn care service.

DNR staff assumed his catch came from an aquarium in someone's home and was tossed into the lake, which is illegal.

"They can't survive in Michigan on a year-round basis," said Todd Grischke, a biologist with the DNR Fisheries Division. "One piranha in a lake is not a threat to the public, but we encourage people not to do it."

Grischke said Michigan law forbids stocking a lake without a permit, though Lynne Thoma, another DNR staffer, said there are periodic reports of a piranha getting caught.

"Usually they get too big for their tank," Thoma said. "It's illegal to put them into Michigan waters, but how do you get people to stop?"

Davison showed off his capture to pals, who were just as stunned as he was.

"At first I thought it was bull, then I saw it and was like 'holy ----, it really is a piranha,'" pal Mark Bockenstette said.

Another fisherman got national attention earlier this summer when he snagged what appeared to be a piranha in Catawba Lake in North Carolina, according to USA Today. It was later determined to be a close cousin of the piranha, the pacu, which eats fruit, not meat.

Piranha primarily consume other fish, but experts say they have also snapped off human fingers with their ultra-sharp teeth. All piranha have a single row of teeth in both jaws that are tightly packed and interlocking -- and used for rapid puncture, according to online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Luckily, Davison got away from his piranha scot-free. He took it to a taxidermist who told him it would cost $216 to mount his prize.

Concerned about the price, Davison plans to keep it in the freezer. He hopes someone will step forward and help pay to display the prized catch.

"Usually I eat what I catch," Davison said. "But this? Nah."