Lake Michigan shark hoax?, page 1

A small black tip reef shark was recently caught in Lake Michigan. A long time ago there was a reported shark attack in Lake Michigan. I tried finding documentation of this a while back, and came up with nothing. But there has been proof of bull sharks far up the the Mississippi. People believe that this is probably just a hoax. And the black tip shark was somebody pet.

TRAVERSE CITY -- A large orange fishing bobber drifted across West Grand Traverse Bay, and Rich Fasi decided to scoop it up before the attached line tangled in someone's motor.

Fasi was out for a cruise on his boat Wednesday evening, and noticed something suspended below the baseball-sized bobber as he approached. He thought someone had set up a unique salmon rig, but a shock awaited him as he pulled in the line.

"I could see a fish down there about three feet down, but the last thing I expected was a shark on the end," Fasi said.

There aren't any witnesses, but Fasi, of Traverse City, said he pulled the roughly 2-foot shark from the bay about 100 yards west of Clinch Park Marina at about 5 p.m. He found the shark in about 25 feet of water, he said. It was dead, but wasn't frozen.

"I could wiggle its tail, pry open its mouth, look at its teeth," he said. "It didn't look like it had any decomposition."

Fasi threw the fish in his freezer and called the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Cadillac-based DNR fisheries biologist Mark Tonello said the incident likely is a "big fat hoax."

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