PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. —An average fishing day turned into a rare one for an angler on Lake Champlain. Debbie Geddes was fishing with her husband when she reeled in a fish with two mouths.
“Wow, look at this thing!” she recalled saying. “This is crazy.” She let the fish go, but not before snapping some photos. The pictures went viral after she shared them with her co-worker, Adam Facteau, who shared them on Facebook. “I’ve had messages from all over the world, like, people asking about this fish. And it seems like everybody’s got an opinion on what is the cause of this fish having two mouths,” Facteau said.
There is no definitive answer, but there are plenty of interesting theories, including an injury from a swallowed hook or the fish being offspring of Lake Champlain’s famed lake monster, Champy.
“Good luck,” Geddes said when asked about advice for other anglers looking to find a two-mouthed catch.
Darin W
What species of fish is it? A known species or something completely new?
Charles R
A double mouthed Pike. Personally I would like to catch that goldfish in the recent Geico commercial.
Mark T
We had the same thing happen to a salmon in Cowlitz County 12 years afo.
Steven B
It is a lake trout. It appears that it had an injury to its throat detaching the throat from the jaw. That or it was hatched with this mutation, but it isn’t a second “mouth”.
It could also be that someone deliberately, and cruelly, took a knife and cut around the inside edge of the jaw producing this effect and released it. The front tip appears to be inflamed.
Wes
Good eyes Steven, you might be right.
Steven B
Thanks, Wes. Hope all is well there in WA.
m99
My husband called this to my attention, and before he said it was in New York State, Lake Champlain, I asked- could it be a result of radiation pollution that’s everywhere in the ocean? However, I like Steven B’s explanation too.
Steven B
Thanks, M.
m99
?