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You know just when I thought we had covered all the giant piranha species, along comes one I have never heard of. My nephew William Barboza from Presbyterian School in Houston.. sent me a text the other day and said he wanted to see the Giant Silver Piranha… I never even heard of these things… but you know what, I think I know somebody who has…
But I know somebody who probably has… The amazon angler and fish finder, Steve Townson.
STEVE: You asked me to find the giant black Piranha and I found it for you. And Now you want me to find the elusive giant silver Piranha… Well we’re going to give it a try here on the Rio Vichada in Colombia. Lodge owner Alejo Diaz is going to help me in my quest…
Now to be honest, I couldn’t find much information on this giant beast before my trip. But according to Steve and Alejo they are very real and grow as big, if not bigger than the black piranha.
Alejo said they could best be found in some of the lagoons not far from his lodge.
That all sounded easy enough but in reality, it was a pretty tough slog. The area was suffering from a drought and the water was way too low for the boat’s engine.
I was starting to think we came a long way for nothing…. I mean, even Steve was out huffing and puffing.
I was waiting for someone to get stung by a freshwater stingray… they’re famous for hanging out in these little creeks… and believe me, they do live up to their nickname “Make grown men cry.”
The lagoon was much bigger than I thought it was going to be... But as soon as Alejo and Steve get their hooks in the water - it was action time ladies and gentlemen
The place was full of all sorts of fish… including huge 3 bar peacock and loads of Payara also known as Vampire fish…
We were just about to break for lunch when Alejo got something different on the line. When he got the fish closer, he said it was the Piranha Plateada -- the one we were looking for…
Now that I had a picture of it, I was able to do a little more research. Based on comparisons with other piranha that seemed to match it, it’s called a Serrasalmus manueli Piranha.
According to Piranha Info.com this species is the largest species of Piranha known to man. It can easily grow up to 20 Inches long or about 50 centimeters. And it can weigh up to 12 lbs or 5 and half kilos!
And now, how about a little pop quiz. Are you ready? Ok here we go. Piranha’s are known to have a really strong bite but is it the strongest bite in the world? What do you think?
Leave your answer in the comment section below and then write to me for the official answer
In the subject of your email make sure to write “Piranha Bite” just like that without the quote marks. Then send that to billschannel@gmail.com
