Fur-bearing trout

Fur-bearing trout are fictional creatures that are purportedly found in the Arkansas River, northern North America, and Iceland.

[1] The basic claim (or tall tale) is that the waters of lakes and rivers in the area are so cold that they evolved a thick coat of fur to maintain their body heat.

[1] The origins vary, but one of the earlier claims date to a 17th-century Scottish immigrant's letter to his relatives referring to "furried animals and fish" being plentiful in the New World.

[4] The "cotton mold" Saprolegnia will sometimes infect fish, causing tufts of fur-like growth to appear on the body.

[6] It was described as having a reddish hair on its lower jaw and neck, sides and fins, but the writer of the Nordri article did not specifically identify it by name.

[7] Sjón recounted that if a man were to eat the furry trout he would become pregnant and that his scrotum would have to be cut open to deliver the baby.

"[4] My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew, a 1936 bestselling book by Robert Benchley, contains the humorous essay "Bad News" about a report of fur-bearing trout used as a goiter cure.

To catch hairy trout, fisherman would act as barbers and lure fish from the waters with the offer of a free trim or shave.

[1][13] An intentionally fantastical story in Maine claimed that hairy trout were under a catch and release policy that was enforced by wardens carrying Brannock Devices.

According to the story, a trout with white fur was caught in Lake Superior off Gros Cap in Sault Ste.