8-year-old fisher catches piranha after dad thought it was a normal fish
An eight-year-old fisherman is going viral after he caught a piranha during a recent fishing trip, and thought it was a normal fish.
No matter how old you are, catching your first fish is a big thing. Some fishers don’t discover their love for it until they’re a bit older, while some are hooked from their early days.
In the case of eight-year-old Seamus Coffey, his dad Mike has been documenting his fishing successes at different points, but he hit the big time in mid-August after a surprise catch during their fishing trip.
On August 8, the young fisherman thought he was reeling in a large bass, but got a surprise when he actually found a piranha on the end of his line.
Speaking to ABC News, Mike, the Pennsylvania native, said that he was actually worried at first that Seamus was going to lose his catch, but never expected it to be a piranha.
“I was like, ‘Slow down dude, you might lose it.’ This looks like something we haven’t caught before,” he told them. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is a bluegill, I don’t know what this is,'” recalled Michael. “And he said, ‘It’s a piranha!'”
Seamus told his dad that he was able to recognize the dangerous fish due to watching YouTube. The fish weighed in at 2lb. “At this point you can’t put anything past Seamus,” his dad posted on Facebook.
Naturally, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission were roped in and quickly confirmed that it was a piranha, which is more native to South America than Pennsylvania.
“Our biologists have confirmed that this is some species of piranha,” said Mike Parker, a spokesperson for the agency.
Man arrested after being accused of illegally fishing for rare sharks and wrestling them
Influencer hospitalized after filming shark attack and nearly having leg bitten off
20-year-old fisherman rescues great white shark caught on his line
Parker also suggested that the exotic fish may have been a pet for someone and was put into the water because they couldn’t care for it properly. That, however, put more native fish at risk. “That is probably the worst thing you can do for an animal that’s been a pet,” he added.