Back in 1987-88 we were fishing at River Bend on the Potomac (above Great Falls, VA) and when we returned to the dock there was a guy with a 12" Piranah on a stringer with some catfish. A park Service ranger was there as well and said that every now and then in the dog days of summer someone catches a piranah or Charlie because people do let them go there when they get too big for their aquarium. Have there ever been any official reports of Piranha or Piranha attacks in Northern VA? The only story I could find was from Lake Anna (see below).

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Piranha Attack at Lake Anna

A resident at Lake Anna reported that their 12 year old son was throwing a stick into the water for their Labrador retriever Sam to fetch when suddenly the dog started emitting loud yelps and frantically started swimming to shore. When Sam got to the shore, he had severe wounds to his legs and torso and was bleeding badly. Sam was taken to a veterinarian who treated the dog and called the State of Virginia Department of Game and Fishes. Game Wardens used nets in the area of the attack and subsequently netted about a dozen Piranhas, the largest about 2 pounds. Officials stated that it is not unusual for aquarium owners to release Piranhas into lakes when the fish get too large for their aquariums; but usually Piranhas cannot survive the cold climate that is present in Virginia. Fish and Game officials speculate that the warm waters near the Lake Anna Nuclear facility allow the Piranhas to survive. Officials are consulting with biologists about how to address the problem; meanwhile they are going to issue an official warning to people to avoid getting into the water until the Piranhas can be eliminated from Lake Anna.

Sam is resting quietly in the hospital recovering from his wounds. Anyone wishing to send cards please send to the following address:

FOS Veterinary Clinic
412009 Gotcha Lane
Fredericksburg, VA 225678

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Piranhas in America [Full Documentary]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy3sA51E8zk
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The Fisherman Wrote:
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> 412009 Gotcha Lane
> Fredericksburg, VA 225678


Gotcha Lane. How very clever.

Another article I found, except this is a red-bellied pacu fish, native to the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America, that a resident from Winchester found...


Local woman hooks toothed fish, believed from South America
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2012/06/shenandoah_river_monster-mobile.html

Twenty-two-year-old Jessi Mossholder at first thought she'd caught a flesh-eating river monster in Woodstock during Memorial Day weekend.

The Winchester resident was camping along the Shenandoah River with her husband, Andrew, her parents, Brenda and Allen Pack, and other relatives when they decided to fish for catfish in the wee hours of May 27.

"We go catfishing a lot in the evenings when they bite at dark," Mossholder said Friday. "We were pulling in bass and some mudcats, and then all of a sudden I pulled that fish in."

At 2 pounds and around 11 inches long, the fish appeared to be an especially big perch to the recent Shenandoah University graduate.

Mossholder went to show her catch to her uncle, who was still awake.

"I hadn't seen the teeth on the fish yet," she said. "I was excited about it being a big perch. I told my husband, 'I have to go wake up Dad. He will be so proud.'"

Mossholder, who hopes to get a job as a teacher, grew up pursuing outdoor sports with her father.

"My daddy, he always wanted sons and he never got one, so I turned into the tomboy," she said. "I go hunting with Daddy. I go fishing with him."

After seeing the fish's teeth, Mossholder thought maybe she'd reeled in a piranha.

She wasn't alone in that idea.

"At first, we were thinking piranha," Mrs. Pack said. "I had never seen anything like it before. It was kind of funny because my dad last night on Animal Planet learned they were doing a [show] about this particular fish. It was that fish, you could tell."

According to Animal Planet's website, piranhas -- which have "sharp, pointed teeth and shark-like feeding frenzies" --Â usually eat smaller animals, but have been known to eat large animals. And, while there are no proven examples of the fish killing people, they do feed on human corpses.

Mossholder said someone had mentioned another fish, the red-bellied pacu, to her, and after doing online research, that's what she believes she caught.

"The red-bellied pacu is related to the flesh-eating piranha, but unlike its notorious cousin it feeds mainly on insects and vegetation," the Animal Planet's website states. "It uses its large, human-like choppers as a tool for cracking open rubber tree nuts, crushing seeds and chopping up sea herbs and various other food sources."

However, when its food supply started to dwindle, the pacu started eating other fish and reportedly killed two fishermen in 2001, according to the site.

"The piranhas have serrated teeth, and the pacu, it looks almost like a human's teeth," Mossholder said. "I had never seen a fish with teeth like that."

She put her catch on ice, and has taken it to a taxidermist.

According to the Fish Explorer website, the pacu is related to the piranha and is native to the Orinoco and Amazon river basins in South America.

"[They] have been reported in 19 states, most likely due to aquarium releases, but some southern states may have experienced escapes from aquaculture operations," the site states.

Temperatures below 50 degrees can kill the fish, which can grow to more than 40 inches and 50 pounds, according to the site.
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I thought about buying some but they're illegal in VA. Legal in some colder states though.

fdsff Wrote:
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> I thought about buying some but they're illegal in
> VA. Legal in some colder states though.

The documentary that I found and posted says that they would probably die out during the cold months. However, if they ever learned to adapt to the cold, they could reproduce in serious numbers. A buddy of mine told me that they find them sometimes near areas where the rivers feed into the Potomac.

The Lakes in Reston South Lakes\Lake Anne are drained every couple of years to keep algea content down and inspect damns.

The fish are counted and replaced. So you can count the Reston lakes for any strange species.

Reston\South Lakes. Wrote:
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> The Lakes in Reston South Lakes\Lake Anne are
> drained every couple of years to keep algea
> content down and inspect damns.
>
> The fish are counted and replaced. So you can
> count the Reston lakes for any strange species.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I wonder if they've found anything strange there?

Prefer Snakehead myself.

River Monster Wrote:
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> Prefer Snakehead myself.
>
> src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2010052
> 3163861/sonicfanon/images/2/2c/Snakehead_fish.jpg"
> >

I've had some buddies catch some Snakeheads and they're monsters unto themselves. They can "walk" from one pond or water source to another, they bite, etc. They taste pretty good though too.

fdsff Wrote:
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> I thought about buying some but they're illegal in
> VA. Legal in some colder states though.


Store in MD sold them a long time ago. Not sure about now.

Snakeheads actually are pretty tasty. Soon, they'll be available all over Virginia, as goober downstaters keep coming up here to catch a bucket or two of them, then hauling them back down to Gooberville for release. Goobers will be goobers, dontcha know...

No piranha could survive the mildest of winters 100 miles south of here.

If you want them, most independent pet stores in MD have them. Beltway aquarium in shit hole MD had some captive bred karibe piranhas.

They don't make good display animals and you are obviously compensating for somthing if you have them.

Atom Wrote:
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> No piranha could survive the mildest of winters
> 100 miles south of here.
>
> If you want them, most independent pet stores in
> MD have them. Beltway aquarium in shit hole MD
> had some captive bred karibe piranhas.
>
> They don't make good display animals and you are
> obviously compensating for something if you have
> them.

...easier to just buy a gun, I guess.

I don't know about no piranhas, but there was a shark attack in Burke Lake back in the 40's. Some say it was a bull shark, but I think it was a great white.

Lake Burke (the actual name) is a man-made lake that was constructed in the early 1960's after the airport project had been shifted out to Chantilly. Well, Willard actually, but since that's under the runways now, nobody knows the name anymore. The town of Conklin was also destroyed in building Dulles. Its remains lie somewhere under South Riding.

Yes it happens every April 15th.

That's an insult to every one of our fine employees at H&R Block, hard-working citizens dedicated to making tax-filing easier and more accurate for everyone. It was a shameful thing that you said.

I doubt this was directed toward the tax preparer, more toward the tax collectors, ex; IRS and STATE OF VA!

Tin hats for sale, get your tin hats.

I wonder how often anyone see's any Piranha in the area.

Not in Va, but check this out...

Angler Catches Reputed Testicle-Eating Fish in Michigan Lake

A tropical pacu, a relative of the piranha, was caught in the waters of Lake St. Clair, but experts say it doesn’t – or probably doesn’t – have a predilection for men’s private parts.

Here’s a fish story that can be believed – and that may cause the males among the human species to cross their legs and wear an, er, pained grimace.


A woman fishing with her husband on Lake St. Clair last week caught a 14-inch pacu, a South American relative of the piranha that has a reputation for eating the testicles of fishermen.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources confirm the 14-inch fish caught by Holley Luft, who was spent July 9 on Lake St. Clair with her husband, Tom, was a pacu, WXYZ, Channel 7, reports.

The Lufts originally thought Holley had reeled in a bluegill until they looked more closely at the toothy fish. Then Tom wondered if it was a piranha and took the catch to the DNR for verification.

State wildlife officials believe the omnivorous fish may have been dumped in the lake after it became too big – they can grow up to 55 pounds in the wild – or aggressive for a home aquarium.

Urban Legend?

How aggressive are pacu?

In 2013, experts warned people, especially men, who skinny dip in Scandinavian waters separating Denmark and Sweden to be on guard because the Brazilian fish had been caught by an amatuer angler, NPR reports.

Henrick Carl, a fish expert at at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, explained the pacu's "mouth is not so big, so of course it normally eats nuts, fruit, and small fish, but human testicles are just a natural target.”

“It’s not normal to get your testicles bitten off, of course, but it can happen …” he said.

And it reportedly has. In Papua New Guinea, two men are said to have died of blood loss after the fish bit off their testicles.

“They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles fit nicely in their mouth,” Carl told The Local, Sweden’s English language newspaper.

That report caused Animal Planet to make an expedition to Papua New Guinea for its “River Monsters” program.

"When I reeled it in, it had this mouth which was surprisingly human-like, it is almost like they have teeth specially made for crushing," Wade told the United Kingdom’s Metro. "They are like human molars and the fish have powerful jaw muscles. They are very deep bodied and solid like a carp, with strong muscles."

All that said, stories that pacu chomp on mens’ crotches are overblown, National Geographic reports.

"All we said last week (with a smile) was that male swimmers should keep their pants on in case there are more pacus out there in our cold Baltic waters," Peter Rask Møller, a fish expert at Denmark's University of Copenhagen, wrote in an email to National Geographic last August.

"Its teeth and powerful bite can for sure be dangerous, but to meet one here and [have it bite you] is highly unlikely, of course."

"A Few Not Nice Words"

Back in Michigan, Holley Luft said she knew she’d caught a big fish, but was surprised when she got a look at its square, human-like teeth on the foot-long catch.

“I am like, holy, yeah I said a few not nice words,” she told WXYZ.

A DNR official the television station interviewed reportedly said that in 20 years on the job he had encountered a half dozen or so similar fish, available for purchase in area aquarium stores.

But he advised people not to dump pacu or any other non-indigenous species into Michigan’s lakes. The tropical fish probably won't survive Michigan's harsh winters, he said.

A similar fish was caught in Illinois last year.
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Haven't caught anything like that, but have heard stories of Piranha being found in the areas where the rivers dump their water into the bay.