Perhaps because my wife, Kay, and I are avid anglers, fish stories always grab my attention, especially when a name is changed or stories about “furry trout” reappear. Here are a couple that caught my eye, made me chuckle and had me wondering about their importance in the grand scheme of things.
I’m referring to two iconic freshwater fish, cornerstones of recreational fishing and triggers for countless boat-sales successes.
The legendary largemouth bass is now officially known in the Sunshine State as the Florida bass, according to action taken by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
If you’re scratching your head and wondering why, the answer is not that someone figures the new name will attract more anglers to Florida. And it isn’t that someone in Tallahassee thinks the Sunshine State can spur some national trend to rename bass, or any other fish for that matter, after their host state.
The name change comes on the heels of a study by Yale University researchers, who saw the importance of genetic analysis to determine the Florida bass is its own distinct species.
Max Chesnes, of the Tampa Bay Times, reports that analyses revealed that the scientific names have been incorrectly applied to the largemouth bass and the Florida bass over the past 75 years, as researchers have written in Scientific Reports.
Moreover, the study also claimed that Florida bass are more spread out than previously thought, with their range stretching through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
For those who want more specifics, the scientific name previously used to describe all largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, will now be used for the Florida bass species. The other largemouth bass will now be called Micropterus nigricans.
Realistically, the name change is purely linguistic. Florida fisheries management said the new name won’t come with any new regulations for either species, but state experts will now refer to Florida bass in regulations and news releases. Indeed, most anglers can’t tell the difference anyway. The Florida legislature in 1975 named the largemouth bass the official state freshwater fish. What’s next? It’ll give the politicians something else to consider at their next session, as good “fish stories” often emanate there.
Let’s turn our attention to the legend of the fur-bearing trout. As the story goes, this fish was first discovered in the Arkansas River. Wikipedia tells us the basic claim (or tall tale) is that the lakes and rivers in the area get so cold that these trout developed a thick coat of fur to maintain their body heat.
Not buying that? How about this one: It happened because four jugs of hair tonic got accidentally spilled into the Arkansas River. And it’s not just an American story. In Iceland, according to Icelandic lore, the Lodsilungar is a furry trout that’s inedible but can overwhelm rivers and is a creation of demons and giants. Gotta go with it!
An account of a furry trout actually appeared in a 1929 issue of Montana Wildlife magazine.
But let’s face it, no one is better at telling fish stories than anglers and boaters. I admit that I frequently tell others at the marina about the fish that got away. “I tell ya, that fish was so big I couldn’t lift it into the boat, so I had to let it go.”
It’s my favorite whopper.
