‘Like catching a unicorn,’ Hampden man reels in rare fish

HAMPDEN, Maine (WABI) - It’s like catching a unicorn.

That’s how a Hampden man described his haul on a recent fishing expedition.

Last Friday Michael Treworgy was fishing for Tarpon in Florida.

After an unlucky start to the day - they were running low on bait.

That’s around the time he got a bite.

A big bite.

He hooked a sawfish.

An 800 pound, incredibly endangered fish, one of the oldest in the world.

It took him more than a hour to reel it in - and eventually set it free.

He thought the fun was over.

“Within five minutes the second sawfish hit on one of the other lines,” explained Treworgy. “I didn’t have any time to recover. So, then it was another 45 minute battle, only this time I was dead tired at that point. And then the second saw fish came up and that was... that was wild. I never expected to ever catch one or even see one, let alone catch two back to back. The second that I saw the saw I realized I had the fish of a lifetime.”

In the 70s the fish were being caught in nets and fisherman began purposely trying to eradicate them.

He thinks the fact that they caught two is a good sign the species is making a recovery.

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