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Britain Mourns Death of Giant Fish

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER

posted: 45 MINUTES AGO

comments: 19

filed under: Animal News, Weird News

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LONDON (Aug. 4) -- She was big. She was beautiful. And boy was she popular with the fishermen.

The death last week of Benson, the monster carp, has sent grief rippling through the British fishing community. Enthusiasts used to flock to Benson's home, the Bluebell Lakes in Cambridgeshire, for a shot at yanking the 64-pound behemoth out of the water. Her sheer size and picture-perfect looks won the hearts of the readers of Angler's Mail, who voted her Britain's favorite carp in 2005.

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Giant Creatures

British fishermen are mourning the death of Benson, a legendary 64-pound carp that was found dead this summer in the Bluebell Lakes near Cambridgeshire, England. The fish was caught and released more than 60 times over the course of her lifetime. Benson is seen here earlier this year during one such catch before she was thrown back in the water.

James Stacey, SWNS

"Money could not have bought Benson. She had that celebrity status," Tony Bridgefoot, the owner of Bluebell Lakes, was quoted as saying in The Times of London on Tuesday. "I can't stress how famous she was in the angling world. All fisherman wanted to catch her. It was the size of the fish, but also the fact that she was scale perfect. It looked as if the scales had been painted on."

Even so, U.K. media gave the fish's death unusually wide coverage. Benson's big, scaly belly took up most of the Times' front page under the caption: "Britain's best-loved carp, 1984-2009." Benson had been caught and released more than 60 times over the course of her estimated 25 years, and news channels broadcast reels of souvenir shots taken by Benson's captors alongside live interviews with distressed fishermen.

"It was here that everybody came to catch Benson," Zoe Whitehead told the BBC from the lakes, about 85 miles north of London. She said she was disappointed to hear of Benson's death, discovered last Tuesday when she was found floating on the water's surface.

"Being the first female to catch Benson would have been fantastic," Whitehead said.

It didn't hurt that the fish's death was sprinkled with a small serving of intrigue: Bridgefoot said Benson may have been poisoned by nuts, bait that can fatal to the fish if not properly processed. But in a brief telephone interview with the AP he said he still could not understand the extent of the coverage,

"Nobody is more surprised than me," he said. "It made the front page of the Times, for goodness sake."

Animal-rights group PETA took the opportunity to tack a moral onto this fishy tale.

"Will anglers now relate to that fillet on their plate, or is all this 'mourning' for Benson a lot of crocodile tears?" the group said in an e-mail statement.

"No one should be hooked on fishing, and fish shouldn't be hooked at all."

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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-08-04 14:47:55

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TexasFisherman07

04:55 PMAug 06 2009

fishy fishy in the lake. bite my hook make no mistake. if luck is here and i give all. i'll serve you up with fries and slaw.

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RLau290541

04:53 PMAug 06 2009

The really sad part of this story is that the fisherman above had a real problem with procrastination and didn't throw Benson back in the water for three days.

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aiveschen011

04:51 PMAug 06 2009

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TexasFisherman07

04:51 PMAug 06 2009

all kidding aside. to feel something that big tugging on your line....oh boy oh boy oh boy!

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TrowgoTN

04:48 PMAug 06 2009

It is about the thrill of the catch, most good anglers release there catch. As for eating carp, they are rarely eaten as no one likes the taste and they have so many bones in them. She was a big one, age must have gotten her.

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DnCarm6

04:47 PMAug 06 2009

Carp are just baitstealing nuisances. I throw them up on the hill so the same one won't keep ripping off my bait mean't for yummy fish! Take that PETA!

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DnCarm6

04:42 PMAug 06 2009

Gth -- If you would look at the picture, you can see that the guy is kneeling and the fish is resting on his knees as well as being held up for the picture with his hands. Not 'superstrength fingers'.

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TexasFisherman07

04:41 PMAug 06 2009

uhhh jim. i think we're gonna need a bigger frying pan.

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Josystinks