fishermen
Two men fish in Ashtamudi Lake near Kollam. IBTimes / Felipe Bascunan

KEY POINTS

  • Local fisherman Jon Kenyon reeled in a live pipe bomb while fishing in the Sacramento River
  • At first, Kenyon and his father-in-law though what they caught was an anchor
  • Another fisherman caught a separate pipe bomb after Kenyon reported his discovery to authorities 

A local fisherman reeled in the Catch of the Day when he pulled out a live pipe bomb during a fishing trip on the Sacramento River over the weekend.

It’s not unusual for a fisherman like Jon Kenyon to reel in strange objects. He has been fishing on the waterway for 15 years, but he wasn’t prepared for what he had caught Sunday.

“My father-in-law had the net ready and we got it up towards the boat,” Kenyon told WKRC-TV. “We thought it was like an anchor and so we put the net away and got the line up.”

Local fishermen are left with boatloads of seafood they can't sell -- one kilogramme of crab is worth 40 euro cents compared to 14 euros ($16) for red mullets
Local fishermen are left with boatloads of seafood they can't sell -- one kilogramme of crab is worth 40 euro cents compared to 14 euros ($16) for red mullets AFP / Gent SHKULLAKU

It was at this moment that the fishermen got the surprise of their lives when they realized that what they caught was a bomb.

“My father-in-law was like, “It’s a bomb. Everybody get to the front of the boat,” Kenyon added.

The homemade pipe bomb near the mouth of Battle Creek on the Sacramento River. He then pulled the explosive device to shore and waited for authorities to arrive, Kenyon told KRCR.

But it wasn’t just Kenyon’s explosive catch that was reported that day. The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Monday that deputies received a separate call of another bomb being discovered on the same river while they were en route to meet Kenyon.

Kenyon said he saw another fisherman and told him that they had “hooked another bomb.”

The Shasta County Bomb Squad confirmed that what the fishermen caught were live pipe bombs. They were later destroyed on-site, according to KRCR.

Kenyon meanwhile believed that the bombs belonged to other fishermen who wanted to fish the easy way.

“I think that they’re probably trying to blow up salmon and knocking ‘em out and having ‘em float up. That’s what I think,” said Kenyon.

Following the discovery, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to all fishermen and advised them to be careful as they may be other concealed explosives under the water.

Earlier this year, two Indiana fishermen caught was described to be a “live grenade” while fishing in Little Calumet River.

The discovery prompted local police to close the road, while the local bomb squad took possession of the explosive device, said NBC Chicago.

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