It’s Saturday. If you are fishing…watch for the robo-trout.
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‘Robo-Trout’ surprises anglers in Maine
GREENVILLE, Maine – Anglers, don’t be alarmed if you catch a trout with an antenna coming out of its belly. It’s just a “robo-trout.”
About 75 transmitter-equipped trout have been released in Moosehead Lake and its tributaries by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as part of an effort to track them and maintain the right mix of fish.
Three of them have been caught by anglers, including Ken Snowdon, who nabbed one of the unusual fish back in January. The fish, sans transmitter and antenna, won first place in a fishing derby and is being mounted at a taxidermist shop.
The trout Snowdon plucked from the icy waters was a trophy fish that was 23 inches long and weighed 5 1/2 pounds. It also had a thin, 10-inch antenna protruding from its orange-red belly that was transmitting a signal.
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife let Snowdon keep the fish but not before retrieving the $200 transmitter.
Snowdon asked a taxidermist to use a line of dark thread to mimic the antenna that was protruding from its belly.
Once it’s mounted, it’ll look like it did when Snowdon caught it, with the antenna-like thread coming from a small incision.
“It will be a conversation starter, that’s for sure,” he said.
