Huge Catfish Creates Havoc in Malaysia

The catfish from hell. . . .

A barbed beast 10 feet long and with a head more than three feet wide has reportedly been terrorizing man and even man’s best friend in the River Endau in Johore, Malaysia.

The International Game Fish Assn. reports that the voracious catfish was recently seen attacking two dogs that wandered into the water.

“Officials said they were determined to catch the fish for fear it could swallow villagers in the water,� the IGFA said in its newsletter, the International Angler.

They need fear more than just the giant head and gaping mouth of the monster catfish. It reportedly has poisonous spines that paralyze those stuck by them.

Scientists, according to the IGFA, say the fish is probably a Bagarius bagarius, which goes by the Punjab name “goonch.�

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The largest fish taken on hook and line in 35 years? None other than a great white shark.

The IGFA recently approved and included the catch of a 2,026-pound great white into its 15-1 (fish with weights 15 or more times the breaking strength of the line) and Thousand Pound clubs.

The fish was caught on 130-pound test line last September by two brothers off Port Lincoln, Australia.

“Ironically,� the IGFA says, “the shark was hooked at 10:30 in the morning, only to return two hours later with the leader still dangling from its mouth.�

Thirty-five years ago, also off South Australia, an angler reeled in a 2,664-pound great white.

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Stinky story: Kuwait highway officials have come up with an interesting way of preventing collisions between car and camel: wolf urine.

According to Backpacker magazine, a study at the University of Umea in Sweden found that camels are repelled by the stuff, which “is being bottled and imported like beer� and poured along the desert roadways.

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“Just for the Halibut� is the title of a recipe book being compiled by John Bourget, tournament chairman of the popular Santa Monica Bay Halibut Derby.

Bourget hopes to have the book completed before the 10-year anniversary of the tournament next April.

“We’re looking for all kinds of cooking and all types of dishes,� he said. “We’re including recipes for baking, frying, broiling and microwaving, and also chowders, soups, salads, sashimi and ceviche . . . “

Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to county youth fishing programs, he says. Recipes may be sent to Bourget at 2117 Ashland Ave., Santa Monica, CA, 90405. Details: (310) 450-6556, Ext. 210.

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Care about kelp? To some divers, there’s no greater beauty than that of a lush amber forest flowing gently with the currents.

To some sea creatures it is a refuge, to others a hunting ground.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, as part of an expansion plan, will begin presenting this world to land-lovers with an exhibit, “Kelp: California’s Golden Forest,� which opens June 24.

The 3,200-gallon tank is loaded not only with kelp, but with everything from eels to octopuses--the animals are separated to avoid bloodying up the joint--to seabass to lobsters to limpets.

It is expected to be an immediate hit. A similar, albeit larger exhibit, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, captivates an audience of hundreds every day.

Monterey’s tank has a huge advantage, however: the California sea otter. Monterey rehabilitates abandoned or injured otters and those that don’t retake to the wild are put in other facilities.

Mike Shaadt, exhibits director at Cabrillo, said that should one of those become available, the facility would be glad to provide a home.

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The Safariland Friendship Classic, a target-shooting event featuring some of the world’s top competition shooters, will be held Friday through Sunday at Mike Raahauge’s Shooting Enterprise in Norco. Proceeds will benefit a youth diversion program.

A 10-hour gun safety course--mandatory to obtain a hunting license--will be held Saturday in conjunction with the event. Details: (909) 485-7986 or (800) 773-4868.