KEY POINTS
- During their first meeting, the man noticed the fish was sticking closer to him
- When he returned to the same spot two weeks after, the fish recognized him
- He wouldn’t reveal which lake the fish lives in to protect it from fishermen
A man in Wisconsin has reportedly become “friends” with a wild fish, and they regularly meet at the same spot every summer, according to a report.
The man, identified as 40-year-old Rex Colubra, has made acquaintance with a freshwater smallmouth bass he named Elvis while on a dive in September 2021, SWNS reported
The two “see” each other when Colubra travels to the lake where Elvis lives, and the fish would reportedly get jealous if other fish get too close to him.
“I even taught him a call,” Colubra, a print-shop worker and animal enclosure maker, said. “I will do a gulping grunt sound with my throat, and he’ll come find me.”
“Elvis will literally just fight other fish if they get too close to me to keep them away,” Colubra added.
Colubra also shared that during their first meeting, he was diving like usual when he noticed the fish sticking closer to him.
“It was like any other dive. I noticed one was sticking closer than the rest. He wasn’t scared even when I got out. He stuck close to the surface in the shallows,” he said.
And when he returned to the same spot two weeks after, the fish recognized him and got closer to him again, according to SWNS.
He said that he recognized Elvis due to a scar on the fish’s face, which he suspected was from being caught by a fisherman.
“I returned and fed him some crawfish,” Colubra said. “He’s completely obsessed with me. He follows me around and just stares me in the eyes.”
Like other pet-owner relationships, Colubra said one of his worst fears is Elvis dying.
He wouldn’t even reveal which lake the fish lives in to protect it from fishermen who would try to fish him. However, he is aware that someday his most treasured friend will pass on.
“Of course, I would be sad if he had been caught. He’s my friend,” he said. “There’s not much I can do to protect him. It’s the risk he runs every year.”
Last year, it took him a while to find Elvis, but he eventually did.
Colubra also expressed his distaste for sport fishing, calling it immoral.
“If you are going to catch a fish, you should eat it and not just put a hook in it,” he said.
