Piranhas

[uday]

Have you encountered or swam with piranhas of any kind in the river? Or have your boat ever crossed a lake or a pond infested with these fishes? Are they edible to eat?

 

[Grandpa]

Never been around them. But here is a previous discusion here in OBC

http://www.outdoorbasecamp.com/forum/f99/piranha-1515/

 

[Hazel]

When I was a little girl in Guyana, I remember seeing a school of them demolish a calf that was trying to cross the trench that I was fishing in. Someone picked me up and rushed me into the house so I wouldn't see the carnage. Another time, my sister fell off the side of a rowboat that was tied to the banks of a creek and by the time that my dad fished her out, you could have seen the bite marks on her big toe down to the bone. It's not worth your time eating the little ones because their so boney but some varieties like the Red Tail Piranhas do grow large enough to eat.

P.S. If you're rod fishing use a wire lead.

 

[uday]

Thanks for the heads up Grandpa! I should have used the search button before creating a topic like this. Hazel, that was a scary experience for your sister. That creek should have been labeled as dangerous to give warning for those who would try to go fishing.

 

[Hazel]

Uday, those fish show up anywhere they want to, especially during flood season. By the way, the creek was in the middle of the jungle and the trench ran through rural farmland.