GRAND RAPIDS, MN (KBJR/CNN) - A man and his father went to the Grand Rapids hoping to catch their trophy fish, but what caught their line surprised them and experts.
The pair reeled in a shark jaw, while fishing in the Mississippi River during Saturday’s fishing opener.
Anglers from across the state were ready to find their trophy fish, or at least some thought they were.
Joey Piskel and his father hit the river that crisp morning eager to catch some walleye.
But to their surprise, their catch of the day was everything but fishy
"He started reeling it in. We saw the jaws coming up. I didn't know what the heck it was," Piskel said.
At first glance, he thought it was a muskie jaw
"Looking at other photos people had sent me all of my friends said that's definitely not a muskie jaw," Piskel said.
Piskel said it's definitely the first time they've come across anything like this.
Joey's father brought the jaw into the Grand Rapids DNR to have it identified.
The DNR said based on the jaw's three rows of teeth it definitely couldn't be a fresh water fish.
The jaw possibly belonged to a sand tiger shark or a mako shark, according to the DNR.
“I'm looking forward to drying this out and cleaning up a little bit, take a brush and scrub off the rest of the decaying matter and put it on the wall," Piskel said.
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