Fishermen reeling in pipe bombs just feels like par for the course in 2020.
Who had "fishermen reeling in pipe bombs" on their 2020 bingo cards? No one? Well, it happened in California's Tehama County to a couple of anglers who were not prepared for what will undoubtably be the craziest catch of their lives.
CBS Sacramento reports John Kenyon was fishing with family on the Sacramento River when he hooked something out of the ordinary.
When the angler got it closer to the boat, they realized they had something incredibly dangerous on the other end of the line.
"My father-in-law had the net ready and we got it up towards the boat and we thought it was an anchor," Kenyon said. "My father-in-law said 'It's a bomb,' and he's like: 'Everybody get to the front of the boat.'"
In an unbelievable coincidence, a second bomb was hooked at the same time by another angler nearby. Kenyon quickly called in the Tehama County Sheriff's office. This led to the bomb squad from neighboring Shasta County being called in to further evaluate the situation. Upon their arrival, bomb squad officers confirmed the explosive nature of the devices.
As is often standard procedure with this type of incident, the bomb squad detonated both homemade devices on the scene to prevent injury to others. The real mystery is what the devices were doing in the river in the first place. Kenyon speculated to reporters that the devices may have been placed by poachers trying to kill salmon for easy collection.
Whatever the case may be, the Tehama County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information on the mysterious devices to contact them at 530-529-4172. They are also asking boaters and fishermen to use caution in the area where the bombs were found near the mouth of Battle Creek in case other devices are still present in the water.
We're just glad no one was hurt. Chalk up another bizarre headline for the strange year that is 2020!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: THE AXIS DEER AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES
WATCH
