When Debbie Geddes went fishing on Lake Champlain at the New York-Vermont border earlier this month, she made quite the unexpected catch. She was shocked to reel in a trout with two mouths.
Although it sounds like the stuff of urban legend, the unusual fish is real. A photo of the bizarre catch was posted to Facebook by Knotty Boys Fishing, a competitive fishing team. The post soon went viral, as people couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Two-headed Lake Trout caught by co-worker Debbie Geddes a few days ago on Lake Champlain #wild #twoheads #scary #nature #champy2,” they wrote in the post alongside the photo.
Check out the unique fish below:
Wow! That is certainly a sight to behold.
Some people doubted that the fish actually had two mouths and attributed its strange appearance to a deformity instead. But the Knotty Boys insist the fish indeed has two mouths.
Since posting the photo, several have put forth their own ideas over the appearance of the fish.
“The theories are crazy,” Adam Facteau, a team member, told CBS News. “Injury. Genetic defect. ‘The Simpsons.'” (He was making a reference to Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish, a mutant fish who appears on the animated TV series.)
Regardless of the cause, Facteau says he considers it “a catch of a lifetime,” which has spurred “a lot of public opinions.”
Geddes also had trouble believing her own eyes when she caught the remarkable creature while out fishing with her husband.
“When this particular fish bit, it felt like I had a nice fish on,” she told Fox News. “I actually commented, ‘I hope it’s as big as it feels!’ When we got it in the boat, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! Two mouths! And yet this fish was healthy and thriving! Pretty amazing!”
After taking a few pictures, Geddes said she released the fish back into the lake.
However, that hasn’t been the only time someone caught a two-headed fish in Lake Champlain. A Columbus man named Chris Hammond also reeled in a two-mouthed trout (perhaps the same one?) recently while on an annual trip with friends.
“This was three days after the first woman caught it, [then] I caught it,” he told WBNS of the shocking experience. “This thing is either really kind of sadly stupid going for every jig that comes down there or I really need to buy some lottery tickets.”
If you have any fishing trips planned in Lake Champlain (pictured below) soon, you might be the next person to catch this strange creature!
What do you make of this two-headed fish?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.