Well, Sunday I loaded up the boat and made the 110 mile drive to a power-plantlake near San Antonio that has yielded some nice stringers of Tilapia in the past.

That twitchy Cousin-Neal of mine was supposed to go, but had to cancel last-minute. Lucky for him as you will soon see...

I'd gotten into a good spot, amongst the lily pads and managed to thump a couple of nice Tilapia, when I beheld some oddmanner of dark colored fish, swimming jerkily near the surface... I thought that maybe it was a dying catfish so I sent in an arrow, "twang-splop!" and never touched a scale, clean miss.

Few minutes later, I spies another. This time I connected and proceeded to reel in a creature straight from a maniac's nightmare...

It had the appearance of some manner of armored catfish, and as such appeared very low on the evolutionary scale. Its skin was slimy, black and mottled. Tall venomous looking dorsal spines and flaccid, bat-like pectoral fins along with tiny, beady eyes, all filmed over and myopic, completed this abomination.

I have never beheld such a wretched-looking creature and I've been bowfishing Calaveras for 10 years.

Once I'd stopped screaming, I tried to sort out what it was, at first I thought that my arrow had gone too deep and I'dplucked a tadpole straight out of Hell... oh, and the mouth! A horrid, sucker-fish looking orifice lined with little needle-teeth (hard to see teeth in the pic).

Well, I mean, well just look at it!!

Faugh!

Ain't the worst of it either boys, there's more of 'em out there...

Afterwards I saw several more of the filthy critters but refused to let-fly on them, believing as I did that I could not withstand another such assault to my delicate sensibilities... as it is, I'll be sleeping with the lights on for awhile.

Yes, they cavorted about before my very eyes, thirsting for human blood and greatly disappointed that I had not brought a bar of soap and a sponge!

And just when you're asking yourself how could it get any worse?

I had boated six Tilapia, with the promise of more to come, when I broke the rip-cord on my ancient and damnable outboard, leaving me stranded without the proper tools to fix it...

Murphy! You tireless wretch, why must you torment me at every turn?! (Murphy's probably a relative of someone I owe money to...)

I managed to trailer the boat after an ordeal that involved a 3 mile hike in 103 degree heat with wet shoes wearing blisters all the while, beneath the merciless Texas sun.

Let someone try and tell me I didn't earn those six Tilapia... well, just let 'em try!

(On a happy note, I just bought a new outboard and it's a beast)

Anyhow, the Tilapia filleted out nicely and I was glad to have them.

Still don't know what to do with the polywog-from-purgatory.

You want him Big Jim? Probably some damned fine eating. Just say the word and I'll flash-freeze him and overnight him out in a package labeled "Gumbo-Stock". Don't that make your mouth water?

Faugh!

If anyone knows what the wretched creature is, I'd be glad to know...

BrushPopper out.

Stick 'em and stack 'em!

The pictures really don't do justice, you should have seen him when he was still on the arrow with his fins all flared-out.... Faugh! Blorch! Waugh!

Is that at plecostamus?

looks kind of like a Lyre Tail Pleco, it's like a cleaner fish for a fish tank.

http://www.u2u.idv.tw/stone/photo/PL...retail-001.jpg

Yep, that looks like it. They are a few different species of plecos (short for plecostamus). Just another type of sucker. Great for your fish tanks, but some of them get pretty big, and fairly aggressive.

No, I'm good. I don't want to be the one responsible for somehow putting the spawn of Satan into East Texas lakes[X(]. You know how word gets around in a small town. I'll be on the front page of the paper and not in a good way[]

What, you mean they ain't vampire tadpoles from hell?!!

That's what it was (pleco)Just like the picture inBlake's link...

How the hell did plecos (S. American aquarium fish) get in my lake, and manage breeding populations?!!!

What's next, Piranhas?!!!

Those power plant lakes have some odd stuff in them, I've seen sailfin mollies there too. Lake's got reds and corvina, and I've thrownetted other fish out of there that I couldn't name.

Thanx for the help though, now I can rest a little easier at night...

BP

People release them from their fish tanks and in the warm water they thrive. There are several lakes in Florida where they have caught piranhas. That is why it is illegal to buy them now.

There was a 5 1/2 pound piranha caught in a cooling lake up here (northern Illinois) a few years ago. And a friend of mine watched a guy shoot a 13' python on their hunting-lease in Kankakee 5 or 6 years ago. People can't take care of 'pets' when they get full-grown, so they dump them for the rest of us to deal with. That python took a lunge at the guy's daughter as they were leaving the woods. He said if it wasn't as cool out as it was the snake would have been a little faster and might have bit her.