Shark found in Lake Guntersville

[mike_s]

The Huntsville Times has a story in it that a Shark was recently found in Lake Guntersville (about 30-45 minutes outside HSV).

Geraldine teenager discusses shark find in Guntersville lake - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com


it's been identified as a Atlantic Sharpnose Shark

 

[PhilEllis]

The Huntsville Times has a story in it that a Shark was recently found in Lake Guntersville (about 30-45 minutes outside HSV).

Geraldine teenager discusses shark find in Guntersville lake - Breaking News from The Huntsville Times - al.com


it's been identified as a Atlantic Sharpnose Shark

Since the experts say the shark "would never go that far inland", I guess he must have taken the bus.

Phil Ellis

 

[RocketMan]

It's Bush's fault...that and global warming

 

[mike_s]

Since the experts say the shark "would never go that far inland", I guess he must have taken the bus.

Phil Ellis

I agree that it couldn't have swam that far inland. I can't see it navigating the locks successfully that many times on the different waterways.

Atlantic Sharpnose only get 3-4 feet long. I'm guessing that it was an aquarium shark that someone had that got too big for their aquarium and they just thought they'd release him in the Tennessee River.

Be interesting if they do any type of autopsy on him to see if they can determine how long he's been in the river.

From watching the video, it was a 'fresh' kill and had not been there long. It appears that the shark had some lure in it's mouth from a local fisherman. I'm guessing that the fight and extra weight of the shark just was too much for the average 8 pound test line that local fishermen use.

But I wonder if the fisherman ever saw the shark? like did it jump out of the water or anything when it was fighting being caught? If so, there is some fisherman out there who I bet told his friends "I swear I caught a shark in the lake, but it got away" and they were going "hmmmm... sure you did... how much beer did you drink while fishing?"

 

[diver 85]

A bull made it to St. Louie one time.......

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Atlantic Sharpnose Shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae at MarineBio.org
This shark is able to tolerate lower salinity levels but, they do not venture into freshwater like the bull shark.

Bull Shark, Carcharhinus leucas at MarineBio.org
Bull sharks are the most common of about 6 species of shark in their genus: the Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus), speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis), Irrawaddy rivers shark (Glyphis siamensis), Borneo river shark (Glyphis sp. B), and New Guinea river shark (Glyphis sp. C), that can travel between salt and fresh water or live in fresh water for prolonged periods

Something sounds "fishy" about this whole story. The fact that it was dead when it was pulled in makes me wonder if it wasn't dumped after being caught somewhere else.

Carolyn:sharks:

 

[Walter]

I think you're right, Carolyn.

 

[mike_s]

I think you're right, Carolyn.

Well we won't know for sure unless they do an autopsey on the shark to determine what kind of water it has been living in.

but Guntersville Lake is 6 hours driving from the nearest saltwater.... and they reported that this shark didn't have any signs of decay...

so I'm wondering if it was someone who might have done an aquarium dump.

I'm figuring it wasn't that big if they thought it might have been a catfish or gar.

 

[BNow0707]

From watching the video, it was a 'fresh' kill and had not been there long. It appears that the shark had some lure in it's mouth from a local fisherman. I'm guessing that the fight and extra weight of the shark just was too much for the average 8 pound test line that local fishermen use.

But I wonder if the fisherman ever saw the shark? like did it jump out of the water or anything when it was fighting being caught? If so, there is some fisherman out there who I bet told his friends "I swear I caught a shark in the lake, but it got away" and they were going "hmmmm... sure you did... how much beer did you drink while fishing?"

This is from afishing website that popped up when i did a google search this morning:

Sharks on the "G"?
from TroyJ/Angling Alabama
7/27/2008 1:20:40 PM
Rated:


So I'm fishing with my brother a couple weeks ago on Guntersville. I get a solid strike on a 1oz jig and I set the hook. The fish took off and literally had my #50-lb braid singing through the water. It pulled 30 yards of braid off of my locked down spool and I could not begin to slow it down with my thumb. A few moments later it took off another direction and the line went slack. I reeled in and the jig was gone and the braid was cut clean. I'd never hooked a fish that fast or that strong on fresh water. Near as we could tell it must had been a giant stripe, because it ate the jig (wasn't snagged) and was too fast to be a big cat and too powerful to be a big drum. (I catch a lot of cats and drum, so I know).

So... what do I see in the Guntersville paper yesterday? Yep, someone found a 3' bull shark, dead with a jig in it's mouth. (Looked like my jig in the pic in the paper anyway).


My brother said to write a report that the shark broke me off while fishing for pirannah near a gator mound. (Just to keep the jetskiers on their toes)... lol.


You never know I guess.

It could be made up but it at least sounds good. And the conservation officer "disposed" of the carcass so no chance of any kind of examination.

 

[mike_s]

don't know...

here's some more stories on it

Dead bull shark found in Lake Guntersville, Alabama- al.com

Here's PDF file of the front page of the paper, with a picture of the shark in it.
http://www.al.com/huntsvilletimes/pageone/tuesday.pdf