Claim: Video clip shows fish jumping into a boat.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2006]
I was sent this video in my email and it was hilarious! The message in the email was, "If only fishing were this easy."  |
Origins: Several species of Asian carp native to China have escaped from U.S. fish farms and are now commonly found in the Mississippi-Missouri River basin. Asian carp typically grow to a length of about four feet or more and weigh around
There have been numerous reports of boaters injured by flying carp and we've even had some of our own guys hurt. It's getting dangerous to be out on the water around here. If you've got a pretty boat and one lands inside, it can be a real mess. I had one over
The silver carp is the real jumper of the four Asian carp species now found in the Mississippi-Missouri River basin. These fish seem to hate boats and they'll jump completely out of the water when a boat is going by, apparently in response to the engine noise. If you crank up a big two-stroke outboard, that really makes 'em mad.
So prevalent are the silver carp in certain
They're called "crazy fish" locally and probably a lot of unprintable other names, especially when they launch a surprise attack into the side of a boat or, worse yet, slam into a passenger. This seems to be happening with increasing frequency. Other CDDs boaters use on the lower Missouri River and on the Mississippi around
The
video clip linked above, which shows fish jumping into the boat of men making a nighttime river excursion, depicts the same phenomenon with a different species of fish. The video is a shortened version of a longer clip that originated on the Brazilian
Amazonian region known for its great fishing rivers.) The footage was taken in the Guaporé region, on a portion of the Mequens River inside the Porto Rolins Park (a protected conservation area) where fishing is forbidden. The jumping fish shown in the video are matrinxã (Brycon cephalus), a Brazilian fresh water species.
Another video of boat-jumping Asian carp, this one shot on the Upper Mississippi, can be viewed here.
Last updated: 18 January 2006
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