With a fisherman catching an unusual salmon in Lake Erie and a group of people reporting an alligator on the Great Lake, you may be wondering what else has been hanging around this 210-foot deep waterway.
On July 28, Colton Alex of Erie caught a 10.4 pound Atlantic salmon that is believed to have been stocked hundreds of miles away in Lake Huron. On Aug. 4, people believe they saw an alligator swimming near East Avenue. As of Friday, the reptile has not been captured.
However, it’s not the first time an alligator was released in Erie.
“We caught a 3-foot long alligator at the mouth of Elk Creek,” said Capt. Jim Smolko of the Northwest Region of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Smolko believes it happened about a dozen or so years ago. It was in late September or early October and was spotted near the access area in a pile of trees. “The water was getting cold. If somebody didn’t catch it, it was probably going to end up dying.”
The reptile was caught and given to someone in North East Township who could care for it.
Sturgeon in Lake Erie
Over the years, people have been surprised at what they’ve seen or found.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors here and there,” Smolko said about unusual things on the Great Lake. “Sturgeon are natural to Lake Erie. It’s not unusual for someone to actually hook one. Some dead ones have washed up on shore on occasion,” Smolko said. He remembers seeing two sturgeons early in his career that washed up on the shore line. They were 30 to 40 inches long.
His office has heard of strange, non-native snakes being found, like a boa constrictor and an albino rat snake.
More:Where's the Lake Erie alligator? What officials are doing to locate it
Piranha-like fish
The Erie Times News reported in July 2010 that a fisherman caught a relative of a piranha while fishing in Presque Isle Bay. Daryl Lubak was perch fishing when he caught a 20-inch, 7-pound pacu. It’s an omnivorous South American freshwater fish that is a part of the same family to which piranha belongs.
It was believed the fish was released from someone’s pet aquarium. Large goldfish have also been found in the bay as a result of people releasing their unwanted pet fish.
Dead shark in Erie
In July 1979, a three-foot dogfish shark that lives only in saltwater was pulled out of Lake Erie, a freshwater body. The Erie-Times News reported the shark was dead and frozen before it was put in the lake. It was assumed the shark was placed there to stir up the community.
More:Lake Erie alligator is no reason to avoid Presque Isle beaches, VisitErie says
Flying saucers and swamp monster
Jerry Skrypzak, president of Save Our Native Species of Lake Erie,has heard of several unusual sightings and pranks over the years, including one about sightings of flying saucers at Presque Isle more than a half-century ago.
“It turned out it was a bunch of kids who took cleaner bags and lit a candle in them and let them go,” Skrypzak said.
He co-authored a book with David Frew about the Great Lake called “Accidental Paradise” about the history of Presque Isle.
In one excerpt he shared, "There was also a relatively high profile case involving a 'swamp monster' who terrorized people (especially young women) who were renting canoes at the lagoons.The 'swamp monster' was much easier to capture than the aliens who made only one Beach 6 landing.After 'staking out' the lagoons for several days, police managed to capture a man who was painting himself green, donning a rubber mask and swimming out to frighten female canoers."
Rare catch:'Definitely a fish of a lifetime': Erie angler catches 'unicorn' species for Lake Erie
Blue pike
Regarding unusual fish, Skrypzak said every once in a while someone reports catching a blue pike, but “it’s merely a perch or walleye that has taken on a blue tint to it. They’ve been gone out of the lake since the early 1950s.”
The blue pike, which are also called blue walleye, were overfished about 100 years ago.
“In the 1920s, there was one year that they harvested 26 million blue pike just out of Erie,” he said.
With Lake Erie having nearly 10,000 square miles of surface water, it’s difficult to guess what may show up next. The reality is if it’s an invasive species, like an alligator or piranha, humans are probably to blame.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him atbwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go OutdoorsPA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook@whipkeyoutdoors.
