Man catches record-breaking giant snakehead fish in Taiwan's Sun Moon Lake

男子在台灣日月潭捕獲的巨型魚虎破紀錄

Huang Hsiao-ssu caught 100 cm long invasive 'Giant Snakehead King' on trotline with carp bait


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fishing expert and his team have caught the largest giant snakehead (魚虎) in Taiwan's history in Sun Moon Lake.

After suffering a drought this spring, recent rains have caused the water level in Sun Moon Lake to rise back up to 60% capacity and invasive giant snakehead fish (Channa micropeltes) have begun to appear in large numbers. Fishing expert Huang Hsiao-ssu (黃小四) and members of his team used a trotline to catch a giant snakehead that weighed in at a record 32 Taiwanese catty (a Taiwanese catty is 600 grams), the equivalent to 19.2 kg, reported Liberty Times.

That same day, his team caught two other giant snakeheads that weighed 17 and 14 Taiwanese catty. On Tuesday (May 16), they caught four more giant snakeheads, weighing about 10 catty each. Huang said most of them were female giant snakeheads, and many of them were found to be carrying eggs.

By capturing these female fish, Huang said that it is the equivalent of removing thousands of the exotic fish species. During the dry spell earlier this month, Huang said that he placed carp bait on trotlines in Sun Moon Lake, but he only managed to catch two giant snakeheads weighing about 12 catty.

However, this week, his team divided the fishing into two operations and as soon as the rains started, he caught the record-breaking giant snakehead. He said that as the rain and water levels rose, the first wave of operations was carried out over two days and one night.

He said they placed trotlines and inspected them every two hours to prevent the strong and intelligent adult fish from breaking free from the hooks. Huang said that they caught three fish on one line, one of which was the "Giant Snakehead King," which was more than 100 cm long and weighed 32 catty, breaking the record of 26 catty he set last year.

Huang said that the breeding season for giant snakeheads is starting soon and that most of the fish caught in this wave were females, with many carrying eggs. He emphasized that because each female can carry 300 to 500 eggs, capturing these egg-laden fish will help prevent the further propagation of the invasive species.

Although he had to work throughout the night, Huang said it was worth the effort to help rid the lake of the invasive fish.