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Published Monday June 20, 2005 Man hooks piranha in Missouri River

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - A fish tale? Sure. But how often does someone catch a red-bellied piranha in the Missouri River?

Ray Wolter, fishing with a worm Thursday evening near the Meridian Bridge at Yankton, caught a foot-long piranha that weighed 3¹/₂ to 4 pounds.

Wolter said he knew immediately what it was because of time spent watching the Discovery Channel on television, but fishing buddy Jeremy Overseth wasn't so sure.

"I didn't think it was a piranha at first, but we looked at it and looked at it and looked at it," Overseth said. "Then, we started calling around."

Wolter said no one would believe he had caught a fish known for its sharp teeth and ferocious feeding activity.

Todd Crownover of the State Department of Game, Fish and Parks confirmed that it was a piranha, probably released into the river by someone this spring.

Wolter tried to keep the fish alive so he could give it to an aquarium, but he found it dead the next morning.

"I'll probably get it mounted now," he said. "It'll cost a couple hundred dollars, but it's worth it for the fish story."

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