Fresh Water Sharks?

[Bobby Bass]

I was sent this story from a friend in the UP Herald-News in Roscommon, Michigan reported that 3 lakes in northern Michigan had been selected to host "an in-depth study into the breeding and habits of several species of fresh-water sharks." Two thousand sharks are to be released into the lakes including blue sharks, hammerheads, and a few great whites. The experiment is designed to determine whether the sharks could survive in the cold climate of Michigan. The federal government was said to be spending $1.3 million to determine this. A representative from the National Biological Foundation is quoted as saying that there would probably be a noticeable decline in the populations of other fish in the lake because "the sharks will eat about 20 pounds of fish each per day, more as they get older." County officials are said to have protested the experiment, afraid of the hazard it would pose to fishermen and swimmers, but their complaints had been ignored by the federal government. Furthermore, fishermen had been forbidden from catching the sharks. I remember a few years ago there was a story about a shark being sighted along the north shore but I can't find the thread. Anyone remember it?

[bwtrout]

Sounds like a little too much George Noory...

[Valv]

Hmmmmmmmmm, which day is today ???????????

[Questor]

I think this has been ongoing. We used to catch the occasional great white while fishing for bullheads each spring and, while they were lots of fun on ultralight tackle, they were a bit of a challenge to get on the stringer.

[Carp-fisher]

Yeah actually I think I've seen sharks while fishing in the 15 foot breakers on Leech...

[SportFishin']

Yeah I've snagged a few whites while out Kite fishing for Sailfish on Minnetonka!

Chris

[ishgood]

Note to self: Pick up shark repellant before opener.

[Random guy]

The Marlin introduced into Red did pretty good back in the fifties, we still see some break the surface from time to time although what has been tough on these fish or should I say Marlin fry is the Foster seals. Once a Foster Seal gets into a pod of baitfish it is ugly.

Now put a shark population into the great lake and same old story. Exotic species comes in via the great lakes, some angler is fishing on the great lakes one weekend and picks up a aqautuic hitchhiker, such as a small shark hiding in the livewell. Now this angler comes to Red lake to fish walleye and flushes his livewell. This small shark is realeased into the water and begans feeding on the Foster seals. Anyone that watches the Discovery channel knows sharks love eating seals. Now the seal population on Red is going to take a huge hit and the Marlin population will go unchecked and begin climbing in numbers eating all the crappies. Once all the crappies are gone because the Marlin ate them all anglers will no longer come to Upper Red Lake and Waskish will crash again, all because they wanted a shark in Duluth Harbor.

[The Grebe]

As spoofy as this post is, there is a shark that CAN live in freshwater, it's called a Bull Shark. I don't for how long they can live there, but it must be a considerable amount of time cause thay have been found a looooong ways up river and they didn't get there in a day or two!

[Bobby Bass]

[The Grebe]

BB...I bet that dude was loading his snuggies even as that picture was being snapped!

Had that been me, upon seeing that shark and loading up the snuggies...just for ballast don't ya know, that little kayak would have looked like a supercharged hydrfoil! I would have left a vapor trail...in more ways then one!

I'll tell ya, on pure adrenalin, I would have out run a torpedo from a nucular sub! My back blast would have peeled the skin right off that sharks face!

Wouldn't have to worry about that though, cause I wouldn't be out there in that little boat anyways, if there was even the remotest possibility that there could be a shark around.

I had some sharks around me when I was swimming down in Florida, years ago...that was enough for me, they had their chance then, they'll never get a second chance!

[gspman]

The seals would take care of any Marlins on Red Lake.

[lookincalifornia]

we're gonna need a bigger boat. and a bigger auger

[sparcebag]

Hey lookin I thought you'd tell about the land sharks,in Cal.

[fisherking01]

That fish behind the kayak was not a predator, it was merely his bait. I know because my cousin fishes with him all the time.

As far as the sharks upsetting Red, I doubt it as I saw a crappie surfacing through the ice, Had about a four foot dorsal fin. I know it was way more powerful than a great white, it surfaced on march 1st, stayed up for about an hour. That's what makes the breaks in the ice, not the cold as most uninformed think.

[Scott K]

I caught that one, I threw it back, I was selective fishing!

[fisherking01]

It was nice when I saw it, however, I'm sure not the biggest in the lake. It'll be a nice fish in a few years!

[Random guy]

You should have seen the pike that crappie ws hiding from, I had to use the downrigger cable and the outboard to land it last summer, I released it, didn't want to take that spawner out of the lake.

[cold one sd]

Here is a quote from the National Geographic News. "While bull sharks are commonly found along coastlines, bays and harbors, they also frequent a most uncommon shark habitat-freshwater rivers.

The species has been spotted 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) up the Amazon River in South America and dwell in Lake Nicaragua, a freshwater lake in Central America. Bull sharks have traveled up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois and are regularly spotted in India's Ganges.

Their ability to tolerate fresh water is rooted in salt retention."

I have heard of some people being killed in a fresh water stream on the east coast around 1919 also.

[Bobby Bass]