If you are fishing with hot dogs, be careful of what you may find.
A viral TikTok video that has been viewed over 10.8 million times since it was published in mid-March is a good case study of the fishing technique, which has gained notoriety in the past couple of years among both fishermen and TikTokers.
This specific 27-second video, published by Old Row Outdoors, features a woman saying "Watch this" into the camera prior to slapping the water with a hot dog. The camera quickly goes into slow motion and anxiety builds.
Suddenly, a massive fish breaks through the surface and not only swallows the hot dog but also a good chunk of the woman's hand for about 10 seconds before relinquishing and going on its way. The woman's face is one of shock.
The reactions to the video mostly consisted of amazement.
"It was nice of that fish to release you after it caught you," one user commented.
"Sooooo are we not gonna talk about how she single handedly found the loch ness monster," another user said.
"This is why I'm afraid of swimming in lakes and rivers," one user responded.
The website Eating the Wild stated that while going to the grocery store to purchase fish bait may seem unorthodox, hot dogs are actually quite enticing for certain species of fish and can be highly effective on the water.
The smell, appearance and texture is what draws some fish, the website said. Catfish, for example, smell hot dogs due to being covered in sensory organs. Carp are in the same boat, so to speak, and anglers will scent bait for carp with unique flavors including cheese and garlic to improve their chances of a catch.
Pike, on the other hand, are scavengers and described as visual predators that will scourge on most any dead carcasses they discover, the website said.
A man named Mike, who runs the Skilled Angler website, said some anglers would rather use hot dogs instead of crickets, nightcrawlers, red worms, and even minnows—especially when fishing for catfish.
He said there are a couple of different ways to fish with hot dogs. One involves a hook-and-bobber rig.
"In the middle of the day or the hottest part of the day you can take the bobber off and allow the hot dog to sink to the bottom where you can catch catfish cruising the bottom for a meal," he said.
A bottom rig is ideal if fish are located on the bottom of a water body. Anglers can remove the bobber, let the hot dog sink to the bottom and leave it there with a tight line to identify any "nibbles."
The video never specified what kind of fish crashed the party. Some speculated it was a carp while others surmised it was a tarpon due to the size and lack of teeth.
Other hot dog fishing videos on TikTok have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, including one video showing a dog going underwater and catching a fish that has been viewed 7.7 million times.
