Local angler hooks piranha-like fish in golf course pond

By Kevin Woster, Journal staff | Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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Close, but no piranha.

Local angler Mike Robinson caught the next best - or worst - thing to the sharp-toothed South American predator fish while fishing the most unlikely of waters: a golf course pond in Rapid City.

(This story has been changed from an earlier version that misidentified the person who caught the fish.)

Robinson thought the fish was a piranha. And it looked the part, except for the teeth.

State Game, Fish & Parks Department fisheries biologist Greg Simpson examined the fish -- which weighed in at 3 pounds 10 ounces -- Monday morning and determined that it was a pacu, which will eat live food but more commonly feeds on vegetation.

“It’s a cousin to the piranha, from South America,” Simpson said. “They’re mainly a fruit-and-vegetation-eating type of fish. They have different teeth than the piranha.”

The pacu’s teeth actually are more human-like, and the piranha's are sharp and protruding, Simpson said. He said it’s likely somebody had the pacu as an aquarium fish and dumped it into the pond, possibly because it got so big.

Robinson's dad, Monty, said his son was using a floating lure at the golf course pond -- where he had permission to fish -- when the pacu hit.

"The plug was sitting, settling a bit when a turtle swam by and attracted Mike's attention," Monty Robinson said. "The pacu was hot on the trail of the turtle when Mike twitched the plug and the paco attacked the plug."

The fish was a powerful fighter and put a good bend in Mike Robinson's fishing pole as it was dragged to shore, his dad said.

"Mike was astonished to say the least," Monty Robinson said. "He thought it was a piranah but couldn't bring himself to believe it."

Although non-native species such as bighead carp and silver carp have been causing problems in U.S. waters, Simpson said it’s unlikely that the pacu would have survived long in South Dakota to cause any problems.

“It would be hard for it to over winter here,” he said. “If you were in Texas or Florida or the deep south, that’s where these things can be a nuisance. But our winters are a little too harsh for them to make it for long up here.”