Fish Bite on Wisconsin Lake Sends Boy to Hospital, Receives 16 Stitches
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.12.19
When you jump in a lake, you typically don’t have to worry about critters from the deep bothering you. Not so for a young man in Wisconsin recently, who says he felt something bite him and left the water with teeth marks all over his feet.
According to TMJ4, the Campiones were spending their weekend at Fox Lake in Dodge County, Wisconsin when things turned frantic in a hurry.
AJ Campione was waiting to try out his new water skies, treading water roughly ten-feet deep. He slipped on his skies, and said that’s when he felt pressure and something sharp around his foot.
“I ripped it out, and I knew I was bleeding so I screamed I’ve been bitten! It was a lot of pain,” AJ recalled.
After seeing the bite marks and all the blood coming from his foot, AJ’s mom, Wendy, says they took him to a hospital right away. He received sixteen stitches to heal the wounds around his ankle and on the bottom of his foot.
So, which species of fish was the culprit?
After a bit of research, the family determined it was more than likely a Northern Pike or a Muskellunge that was responsible.
“We were in complete shock for at least ten days. We just couldn’t believe it,” Wendy said.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) says the chances of being bit by either of these freshwater fish are indeed rare, but Muskies and Northern Pike are notorious for being aggressive, and it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.
“Their feeding pattern is this ambush style, and they are very effective predators,” said Laura-Stremick-Thompson, with the WDNR.
Despite the scary incident, AJ has no fear of the lake whatsoever.
“It’s not going to happen again, so I’m just going to go in and have fun,” he said.
