Lough Fadda Monster

[Frideswide]

I had no idea. I was told many years ago not to bother with pike as it tasted horrible.
Guess I was told a porky!

I think that's why we used to keep it in clean water for a while? I'm pretty sure I saw the same thing done by Fearnley Whittingstall.

 

[Mythopoeika]

I think that's why we used to keep it in clean water for a while? I'm pretty sure I saw the same thing done by Fearnley Whittingstall.

Aha! That might be it.

 

[Jim]

I think that's why we used to keep it in clean water for a while? I'm pretty sure I saw the same thing done by Fearnley Whittingstall.

The lakes I get my pike from are colder northern lakes. In my area pike don't thrive without cooler or deep water. maybe that helps but delicious!

 

[lordmongrove]

Coverage in the Irish Mirror. The indigogo thing is now closed but Travis Wolf is excepting private donations and his e-mail is in the article.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/iri...ZLqT_wxYcP1d7ZBJhb0fNGCMGtQ2knnZHS2cLw7ABXy5I

“The last proper investigations were carried out by Captain Lionel Leslie and author FW Holliday in the late 1960s.

“Captain Leslie used dynamite to force the creatures to the surface. He reported seeing one thrashing about at the surface after a blast had been set off.

“The creatures reported from the loughs are known locally as horse eels or peistes. They are said to resemble eels with a horse like mane running along the back.

“They range from 10 to 30 feet long and are capable of crawling across the land. The most famous sighting occurred in 1954 at Lough Fadda when Gorgina Carberry, a librarian from Clifden and her friends saw a 30 foot, eel-like beast with jaws like a shark.

“The creature she described as ‘wormy’ terrified her so much she had nightmares for years and would never return to the Lough alone or at night.”

 

[hunck]

Using dynamite seems a little extreme & not very eco-friendly. That was the last 'proper investigation'..

 

[Jim]

Coverage in the Irish Mirror. The indigogo thing is now closed but Travis Wolf is excepting private donations and his e-mail is in the article.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/iri...ZLqT_wxYcP1d7ZBJhb0fNGCMGtQ2knnZHS2cLw7ABXy5I

“The last proper investigations were carried out by Captain Lionel Leslie and author FW Holliday in the late 1960s.

“Captain Leslie used dynamite to force the creatures to the surface. He reported seeing one thrashing about at the surface after a blast had been set off.

“The creatures reported from the loughs are known locally as horse eels or peistes. They are said to resemble eels with a horse like mane running along the back.

“They range from 10 to 30 feet long and are capable of crawling across the land. The most famous sighting occurred in 1954 at Lough Fadda when Gorgina Carberry, a librarian from Clifden and her friends saw a 30 foot, eel-like beast with jaws like a shark.

“The creature she described as ‘wormy’ terrified her so much she had nightmares for years and would never return to the Lough alone or at night.”

Not of fresh water but the appearance sounds a bit like that of an Oar Fish

 

[EnolaGaia]

For the record ... We have another thread addressing horse eels generally:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/horse-eels.62634/

The horse eel seems to be a cryptid story unique to Ireland, but not to Lough Fadda alone.

 

[lordmongrove]

Not of fresh water but the appearance sounds a bit like that of an Oar Fish

Oar fish are bright silver with a red crest and ribbon like in cross section. Eels a grey, lack the red crest and are cylindrical in cross section. Eels can also slither across land for quite a distance.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I knew it rang a bell . . .

In 1963, the lake had only alligators!

Apologies, as ever, to Ponchielli! :mattack:

 

[Jim]

Oar fish are bright silver with a red crest and ribbon like in cross section. Eels a grey, lack the red crest and are cylindrical in cross section. Eels can also slither across land for quite a distance.

Well that makes sense they can live in a frickin bucket for days.

 

[Twigwidge]

Coverage in the Irish Mirror. The indigogo thing is now closed but Travis Wolf is excepting private donations and his e-mail is in the article.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/iri...ZLqT_wxYcP1d7ZBJhb0fNGCMGtQ2knnZHS2cLw7ABXy5I

“The last proper investigations were carried out by Captain Lionel Leslie and author FW Holliday in the late 1960s.

“Captain Leslie used dynamite to force the creatures to the surface. He reported seeing one thrashing about at the surface after a blast had been set off.

“The creatures reported from the loughs are known locally as horse eels or peistes. They are said to resemble eels with a horse like mane running along the back.

“They range from 10 to 30 feet long and are capable of crawling across the land. The most famous sighting occurred in 1954 at Lough Fadda when Gorgina Carberry, a librarian from Clifden and her friends saw a 30 foot, eel-like beast with jaws like a shark.

“The creature she described as ‘wormy’ terrified her so much she had nightmares for years and would never return to the Lough alone or at night.”

Though nowhere near as large as a horse eel, I think the Dregpike of Cumbria might be a related cryptid or even the same thing misidentified. It resembles a giant pike with a horse’s mane and hind legs and seems to be confined to the area of the Lake District.