I grew up near Lake Norman and during my high school years I spent many afternoons swimming near Jetton Rd area. During the summer of 1982, my friends and I were swimming and noticed what we thought was a submerged upturned canoe a ways off in a cove. We swam toward it but we noticed it seemed to be drifting away as we swam toward it. We thought maybe the current was carrying it away until we noticed small fish jumping in the "front" area of the canoe. We also noticed what we thought were floating leaves in the wake from the moving thing. We looked at them an noticed they had the consistency of mud and thought it was floating debris. One of my friends jokingly covered his face in the "mud" and we forgot about the thing and continued playing. Not long after that we heard and saw a HUGE splash in the middle of a family of ducks near a dock we were playing at saw several of the baby ducks pop back to the surface as if they had been pulled under and by whatever made the splash. We never saw the "canoe" again, but we often found the foul-smelling floating "mud".

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: C. Campbell of Glendale Springs, NC

I'm not sure what people are seeing in Lake Norman but I do know this much for sure, on thursday afternoon around 2pm or later I was fishing for bass on the upper end of the lake, Marker 25 area at the Long Island Marina. In a cove just around from the marina, I was throwing bubble gum color trick worm in the lay downs of the cove. No action there, but I saw some minnows jump in front of my boat so i threw my worm past the minnows or shad still no luck.

I threw few more times and all of a sudden this dark shadow of a fish came from the drop off to the shallows and hit my trick worm but didn't take the lure. I reeled back and set my rod down and just trolled around the cove just to look. I finally saw what I think hit at my lure, i think there called gar fish or something like that. This fish looked to be at least 4 ft in length it. It was a big fish. The only other fish I've seen that big in fresh water is catfish.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: F. Miller of Hickory, NC

My dad and I were driving over the bridge on 77 going north toward Mooresville. We both saw a large wave rolling toward the north shoreline. The water was still and calm. As far as I know, there are no rogue waves on a lake are there?

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: R. Wright of Mooresville, NC

I think I know what it is that a few of yall have been seeing. in my fishing career i have happened to catch a couple of Bowfin. Which seem to match a few of your descriptions. I am just throwing it out there so don't get all excited or frustrated with me. I thought that yall would like to see this fish that I am speaking about. I caught this at one of the coves past the 150 bridge on Norman:

Submitted by: D. Goodman of Charlotte, NC

I was using my 110 aqua view camera the other day when i looked on the screen and saw a large snake looking creature coming towards it. The next thing i saw was his massive monster like teeth chomping on my camera. I quickly looked around and saw a boat beside me. I yelled to them to see if they had a camera to take a picture but they didn't. Just thought you guys would like to know.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: P. McRachin of Hampstead, NC

It was late October, one dreary night across the lake, me and my wife were driving by Lake Norman. The window was open and my Golden Retriever started barking, which is quite odd because she rarely barks.

Then the barking intensified until my wife begged me to pull over and see what was wrong. I pulled by the side of Lake Norman. I got out of the car and could detect a faint odor in the air. Bertha, my dog, kept barking towards the lake. I got out my flash light and for reasons unknown to me shined it at the lake.

What I saw shot a cold shiver up my spine. I grew pale. There in front of me swam the monster, peering at me with cold and lifeless eyes. It's big bloated body sunk then rose again. It moaned a horrific cry and I could see its purple skin glistening in the pale moon.

Bertha jumped in the water after the creature. I tried helplessly to stop her yet, she disappeared into the frigid water never to be seen again. My wife and I continued on our trip, sad and horrified, with only the leash in the back seat to keep us company.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: D. Griesemer of Mount Pleasant, SC

March 18... Me and my dad were out fishing on our new boat around Beatties Ford boat landing when all of a sudden we were lifted out of the water. We quickly got on our life vests and went for a ride. The water pump burnt out in the boat because we were out of the water so long. I really don't know what it was but it sure was big.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Chapman of Mount Holly, NC

I was standing on my dock on March 8, 2005 and I saw 5 ducks swimming toward shore. I looked away for a few seconds then looking back I noticed, 1 there was only 4 ducks, and 2 a purplish fin was shooting down through the water toward the bottom. I came inside and wanted to see if anyone else had ever seen the "thing". That's how I found this sight.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Dowell of Denver, NC

I've had several encounters over the last 25 years with the Lake Norman monster. My friends and I have been attacked at Molly's Backbone several times, always the second Saturday of the month b/c that's the day we're off.

The first time we were sitting in our boat, drinking Carolina Blonde. We were pouring the beer out b/c we saw the Lake Patrol headed our way when this big shadow came up under the water and swam at the boat. It hit the boat and knocked my buddy Johnny Ray into the water. He crawled back into the boat and as we sped off, we hit the monsters back and were launched into the air. Johnny Ray looked back and swears he saw the monster's head come within a foot of the boat. The monster glared at him and dropped back into the water.

Then last year me and my friend Tim were in his boat. It was about midnight and the sky was cloudless. We sat huddled close together as the wind was getting up and Tim said he was cold. All of a sudden, we heard a roar coming from somewhere nearby. Tim suddenly wrapped his arms around me. In the moonlight, I saw two large humps rise above the surface several times. Needless to say, we sped out of there. Tim was too scared to go home or even sleep by himself, so he slept with me that night.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: A. Newberry of Mooresville, NC

Me and my friend's dad saw something like a dolphin out by the dam at Lake Norman last week (2\4\05). We were staying on my friend's boat for the weekend, at the marina, when I said that I saw a dolphin in the water. Jim's dad saw it to, but he said it looked more like a dolphin and a giant catfish put together. It was kind of a grayish-green color, and about 18 feet long.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: S. White of Nicholasville, KY

I was visiting my friend Kevin from High Point when we decided to go fishing at Lake Norman; I think it was on june 5th or 6th. I will try to make a long story short, but I've never been very good at this sort of thing anyway. We were enjoying the afternoon having a couple of beers when my friend Kevin spontaneously looked over at me like someone had just sucked the breath right out of him. I asked him what happened but he could not talk. The only thing he could do was point with a convicting fear! I turned, I looked, and that's about all I could do before the boat we were in almost overturned. I didn't know anything at that time because I had not yet laid eyes on the beast. After the vessel stopped shaking and we caught our breath, Kevin began to describe something that was like a cross between the "Loch Ness Monster" and as odd as it sounded, Gumby. This was highly disturbing to me since my feet were dangling down in the water! Needless to say ,I did not believe him.

OK, this is where it starts getting good. Just about the time I said that we felt another bump on the boat. This time it was smaller, but when I tried to pull my feet in a hit nearly twice the energy of the first picked the entire rear end of the boat out of the lake. Holding on for dear life I looked down and saw nothing but a bright emerald green color. This was definitely Kevin's dreaded gumby-loch! As the boat slowly re-entered the water, he and I quickly agreed on its description. It was everything mentioned earlier, plus giant eyes and a long tail. I'm not going to go on, and I'm sorry this turned out to be a long story instead of a short one. Kevin and I said that we would not tell anyone about the monster last year, but I'm the kind of person that needs to know what exactly was going on that day.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: S. Tanner of Crab Orchard, IL

This is a story told to me and my mom by a friend of hers about 4 years ago that was out on the lake one night in his fishing boat at the hot hole near the Marshall Steam Station. He tells the story of a long snake like fish or creature that came up beside his boat in the lantern light. He said it was bigger than his fishing boat and kinda of reminded him of the lock nest monster. Needless to say him and his friend got out of there real fast and haven't fished in that area of the lake since.

Here's another story told by divers that have went down into the lake to check the Calvin Ford Dam and have reported hugh or giant catfish down near the bottom. One diver tells the story of being down near the bottom and seeing his reflection and realizing that it was the eye of a huge catfish. He came back up and refused to go back down there. He claims the catfish was the size of a huge whale, and could have swallow him whole!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: D. Tague of Lincolnton, NC

Crusin' along, water skiing, and this huge black thing, about 10 feet long, was whipping along beside me, as fast as I was skiing, and suddenly it got closer, I thought I could see a little blue and brown and green on it, and then it dove down and disappeared. I haven't trusted that cove again for skiing.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: L. Joye of Mooresville, NC

The last time i visited my friend's lake house i saw something that will change my life forever. I could have sworn that what I saw was the head of some kind of prehistoric dinosaur. The animal's neck was the only thing that broke the surface of the water. The neck was approximately ten feet in length and the head was little more than the size of a human head. The creature's neck was brown as was its head. I will never venture into the waters of Lake Norman.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: G. Rivera of Chapel Hill, NC

I have fished Lake Norman a few times and have never seen anything strange. Nonetheless I believe what you people as well as friends of mine are encountering is a sub-species of Alligator Gar. Many people believe Giant Gar Fish are just folk tales, but THEY ARE NOT!!!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Blunt of Rio Grande, TX

July 29. 2004, I went to Lake Norman for vacation. I was at Queen's Landing, when I got in my boat. My brother was gawking at something in the lake. As I looked over there, I saw something disappear under the water. The next thing thing I knew, something in front of me, jumped about 5' out of the water. It was about 9' long, and 2' wide. It was snakelike, with 2 flippers in the front. It was dark brown with steel black spots like a anacondas. It also had deep red whiskers. And I can't forget the spikes running down his back like an iguanas. He also was very scaly. The spray of the 'IT' splashed me. It felt like saliva.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: M. Walker of San Antonio, TX

The weekend of July 4th I was fishing in Lake Norman with my five brothers and 4 sisters. We were on a pontoon boat. We had not caught anything all day except a buzz and were running out of beer and about to call it a day. All of sudden my line one of my brothers and one my sisters starting going crazy. The three of us were on the same side of the boat and it about 20 seconds it emptied all three of our spools- my sisters first, then mine followed by my brothers. About 250 yards away, this giant alligator/whale looking creature surfaced. Next time I will use something heavier than 8 lb test.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Loftus of Charlotte, NC

I recently visited Lake Norman on July 17, 2004 and was unaware of the Lake Norman Monster (Normie), until that day. I personally get scared of the word monster, but on that day and on, I'll never get in that lake again!!!

Well we had all day to swim and me and the gang from WV went and had some fun at the rope swim on the tree (visible from the interstate) right beside the Davidison exit driving northbound. As the day went on, we all was having a good time climbing the tree and swinging out over the lake, until my best friend in the world went off the rope swing and did somewhat of an olympic dive.

After he hit the water, he didn't come up for at least 20 seconds and we knew something was up. And before I jumped in to find out want was wrong, he popped up out of the water and had drifted halfway out towards the interstate, which was about 100 feet from where he originally dived in.

He started screaming and we didn't know what was going on, until Normie came up to the shore and stared us in the eyes right beside the rope swing!!! It was at least 17 feet long and was green. Man I'll never forget that face. It was sad because the lake norman monster and my friend was in the water by themselves. So Normie headed back towards him and he was scared. Heck Normie was probably just wantin' to play.

Dog managed to make it to the interstate from the rope swing and we picked him up from the exit. He was still shaking when we met up with him.

Normie scraped my friend's leg and he broke out in red blistering hives and had a severe itch, but a little neosporin helped and he was back to swimming in no time.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: Jason J. of Huntington, WV

I heard about it and drove down to satisfy my curiosity about the Lake. Sitting on the bank,video camera (with low battery to my disdain) I saw something in the distance (after 2 hrs,) that was moving! As I looked a little more, I could tell that it was a dog (looked like a black Lab) swimming.

Suddenly, the dog let out a horrible yelp and began to thrash about (coming out of the water completely twice!!! Then as quick as it started, the whole event ended! I was alone and no way of proving my experience, so decided not to ever make mention of it. But recently a friend of mine told me that he was taking his family there for the weekend, and it made me think of this story.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: R. Chapman of Moyock, NC

I was fishing with my family in the Norman lake, my Sister had a bad experience swimming in water two years ago and so decided to stay on land. we didn't go to far out. 10 minutes went when suddenly my Sister started screaming and shouting, we couldn't really hear what she was saying but she was pointing at something behind us and to our horror we saw this creature, long like a snake but massive and much wider, about 3-5 meters in width and about 15 meters in length. The water wasn't very clear but it defiantly wasn't an ordinary marine creature... I tell you I was scared...we all were. Our boat was modern and so we got back to land fast. We took one last gaze back at the horror which was still eyeing us although still stationery in the same position and ran leaving our boat behind. From that day on I've never been fishing (as much as i enjoy it) especially in lakes.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: R. Clivey (location unknown)

While setting on my dock fishing, I got a huge bite. I set the hook and started trying to reel in what seemed to be the biggest fish I've ever hooked. At first I thought I had hooked a big stump but it started pulling the line back. I tightened the brake on my reel and started reeling in what felt like a huge fish. After wrestling with it for fifteen minutes or so I got it right up to the edge of the dock.The head on this thing looked to be about as big as a whole cow. Just about then the line snapped and it started swimming away. When it got about twenty feet away from the dock it splashed its tail and got me soaking wet!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: H. Beavers of Mullens, WV

On June 29, 2004 I was driving north on I-77 across the lake at Exit 30 when I looked off to the right toward Davidson Gateway (the quiet side of the lake) and saw a large "thing" slightly smaller than my friend's boat (maybe 17 feet or so...) flopping around in the lake.

I wasn't the only one who saw it that day, as I almost hit the car in front of me because everyone was stopping in the middle of the road and pulling over, getting out of their cars and staring at it!

This thing looked to be grayish or brown in color with greenish-yellow markings and a pig-like tail. It will always be in my head next time I'm skiing or tubing!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: K. Williams of Davidson, NC

Three of us were sitting on the dock. We saw a duck land. Something came out of the water and ate this duck. We don't know what it is but its big and fast, and apparently likes meat.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: P. Inman of Davidson, NC

One day my friend and I were riding around in Lake Norman on a couple of jet skis. I was doing about 45 mph and this thing with huge purple bluish fins poked it's head out of the water in front of me.

I was going too fast to stop and my jet ski hit the back side of the fin, causing me to elevate at a high speed into the air. On my way through the air, kind of like slow motion, I could see the length of it, approximately 10 ft. long and it's bright yellow whiskers with purple tips waiving in the air. On my way back down into the water, my left leg brushed against the creature as it passed by and a slimy substance was left on my leg. I broke out in red blistering hives in this area, causing it to itch tremendously. It only lasted for a couple of days and then, vanished.

I don't know what this was and hope to never see it again. I will never go back in that nasty lake. This was for real, yall. Someone's liable to get hurt. Proper authorities need to be notified about this thing and do something about it before someone gets hurt real bad.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: L. McPherson of Mooresville, NC

My girlfriend and I recently visited Lake Norman. While sitting on the beach I was reading to her and notice a glare come from the lake. When I sat up and looked out over the lake I didn't see anything at first. She and I looked for a few minutes with no success in finding what caused the glare. After our picnic we packed up our stuff and loaded everything into the car and I glanced over the lack one last time. This time I noticed out towards the middle of the lake a line of beavers. The only about the line of "beavers" that was weird was the wake that they were causing and the fact that they moved simultaneously. Maybe it wasn't beavers.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: H. Johnson of Atlanta, GA

One day me and my friend were out on our jet-skis and we went into the Davidson Landing cove next to I-77 and he went ahead of me. When I got there he was waiting right as I'm coming into the cove I see him screaming and waving to turn around and he takes off out of there... As I'm riding in, something bumps my ski and pushes me sideways a bit. As I looked down, I saw something BIG but only a portion of it... It was either gray or green - I don't remember, but I jetted out of there...

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Farbor of Mooresville, NC

On Thursday, May 20, 2004, my class took a field trip to the Catawba Queen in Mooresville, NC. I was standing at the bow of the boat and looking out at the water. I saw a huge fish with stripes on its body and a squiggly tail. This huge fish was off to the left of the front of the boat. It was swimming just under the water. I could see it clearly because of its bright stripes. It also had big eyes! There were smaller fish swimming away from it. When the boat got closer, this huge fish swam away!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Sorrells of Charlotte, SC

I was on the Catawba Queen with my 3rd grade class for a field trip. We were sailing up around Mooresville. It was about noon when I was looking out at the beautiful lake. I saw dark stripes and a little squiggly tail under the surface of the water. There were lots of little fish swimming away quickly ... they looked scared! I didn't know what it was and it swam away quickly when it saw me. I didn't have a chance to tell anybody to look.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: R. Hutchison of Charlotte, SC

Me and my buddies were out fishing and we saw this long dark shadow go through the water. It was 20 feet long or so and looked like a snake . We were scared but saw that it had red-tipped fins.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Bubber of Honea Path, SC

I thought I saw something very strange in that lake a couple of years ago. As I was riding north on I-77 on my way to work in Mooresville the strangest shadow was on the lake. It was a strange darkness in the water. I slowed down and saw it sort of sink away. Frankly, I decided it was just my imagination after I mentioned it to a few people who laughed it off. I guess they thought I was nuts! But, there's something out there.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. McLean of Gastonia, NC

I was at my friend's lake house yesterday jet skiing when we both saw a big dark shadow moving in the water making ripples on the surface. The thing was about 10-12 feet long. We don't know what it was, but it freaked us both out and we didn't go back in the water.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: M. S. of Weddington, NC

Well one day I was out on my friends boat when we got pushed in by our boyfriends. I would say we both plunged in pretty deep and when we both came to swim up, we both felt something swim past. It didn't touch me or her but you know you can feel the water swishing past you when something big swims by. Well, both of us were thinking it was the other person, so we thought nothing of it. Whew we came up to the surface we saw a couple of fins swim by. The fins we brown with yellow spots and looked very scaly. Our boyfriends saw the same thing but they saw most of the body... same description... brown with dark yellow spots.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Mortan of Charlotte, NC

It was my Aunt's wedding at the lake and it was a really hot day out. My cousin and I put on our bathing suits and jumped into the water. We were at a my Uncle's house and we kept on jumping in and out of the water. I looked at the water and their was a long fish. I knew that their were big fish in the water but not this big -- it must of been 10 feet long and 2 feet wide!

I looked at it and yelled for my cousin to come out.

My Uncle's house was in "The Point" and across the water about 40 feet was a golf course. My cousin swam to the end of it and he saw the fish to. It had a long fin and it was yellow and brown. We never saw the Monster again but sometimes we will see a large shadow in the same spot.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. DiTomasso of Charlotte, NC

One summer my dad, my sister and I went out to my aunt's house on the lake. My cousins and I were fishing and I would always tease them about me seeing fish. I was looking around in the water and I saw this huge snake like thing. It's body was a dark yellow with brown spots. It also had a long beak sort of thing. I called my dad over but he didn't believe me. So finally he came over and he saw it.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Pearson of Meadville, PA

About two years ago, I was with the family, when we saw a few ducks swim by. There was a huge splash all of a sudden, and I saw a Gar Pike about five feet in length take a snap at one of the ducks. Vicious little monster. Haven't been back since.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Hord of Concord, NC

My sister and brother-in law moved to the lake 3 years ago. I go and visit them every year in May and July. I have gotten to know the area very well from land and lake. I witnessed on Saturday the 24th of May down on the lower dock around 7:00 p.m. a large ripple in the water. It was about 30 feet long. It reminded me of the same ripple back in 1977 in Miami, Fla. on one of their canals. People who lived there all their life said it sounded like a alligator striking a tarpin fish from the everglades. My sister lives within sight distance of the dam.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Pearson of Meadville, PA

40 inch alligator spotted on May 10 2003 at power lines on north side in Skippers Cove. Looked very healthy.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: B. Dishman of Winston-Salem, NC

My Friend Drew was jet skiing at The Point when he stopped for a swim. He was swimming when he saw a big shadow approaching him underwater. It had a long narrow head and neck. It swam towards him and he began to swim away. The creature retreated into the water and to this we day are puzzled about the origin of this creature.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: C. Smith of Richmond, VA

I was fishing from my neighbors dock when I saw something approaching from a distance. It had two humps sticking out of the water like a sea serpent. It was making quite a V in the water. When it got close enough it turned out to be a large carp followed by a smaller carp swimming right on the surface. Their backs were out of the water and looked like humps. At night or from far away it could have been mistaken as a serpent or who knows what.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: L. Mintzer of Mooresville, NC

About ten years ago in high school some friends and I were jumping from the Duke Power trestle. We had been there for about 2 hours and making a lot of noise. I went to dive in and decided to make a huge splash. When I arose to the surface everyone was like get out of the water!!!! Yelling and screaming that something was after me. I shrugged it off and then after realizing that the water 20 feet behind me was rippling I decided to swim like crazy! I reached the surface and climbed up the rocks to see a giant shadow under the water. It was at least 14 feet long!! It surfaced a little more before finally going down, it had to be an alligator gar, but I couldn't imagine a fish getting that big! It looked like 2 people holding on to each other swimming. So who knows what it was. Needless to say I haven't been back to jump from the trestle anymore!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: S. Campbell of Maiden, NC

I was in my boat with my fishing rod just under slanting bridge road late one evening getting ready to cast when something hit my boat like a rapid floating log or something. I yelled to my buddy, Phil, who was floating on a old piece of Styrofoam and he saw it too.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: T. Bramlett of Charlotte, NC

A few years ago, I was at my mother-in-laws condo in Davidson, NC (Portside community). It was early evening and I was out on her 3rd floor balcony watching the sun set. The sun was still up, but going down quickly. I was looking out over the lake when all of the sudden this big dark looking creature stuck its head up out of the water. It had a long narrow head and long neck. The portion of the create I saw watch approximately 5 feet or so long. Its head was out of the water for less than a minute, but the smooth glassy water was rippled as if a person had just jumped in the water. There were no boats or water craft active in the area. I went running in the condo to get others to witness this, but when we returned the creature was gone. That is what I saw that one day, several years ago. Is there really some creature out there? Who knows, but as for me, I do think there is something out there in the waters of Lake Norman.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: N. Nichols of Huntersville, NC

We race sailboats in the Wednesday night outrigger yacht club races. One night last July (2001) the wind had died out in the middle of the race near Blythe landing. As we sat there drifting with the current, someone on the boat yelled to look behind us. I caught it out of the corner of my eye... it was real long with fins that stuck out of the water.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: M. Rokitt of Huntersville, NC

Late Friday afternoon, September 20, I was out wakeboarding with my friends. We probably saw 3 other boats that day, one of which was pulling a slalom skier in the main channel — the water was glass. We were in the cove that leads over to Westport Marina when I went to land a whirlybird (a wakeboarding trick).

That's when we all witnessed a scabby-looking fin that was way outside the wake. We all saw it and immediately thought we were in shallow water, but it disappeared. I walked on water to get in the buoy. That ended our session. I don't know what it was... but I never did land my whirlybird.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: D. Roche of Charlotte, NC

A friend and I were at the lake last summer swimming around the pier. We noticed something coming from the middle of the lake. We couldn't believe our eyes. It had a huge body with these 2 large fins that were coming out of the side of it.

We went to get the camera but when we got back it had gone back under the water. We have no idea what it was I guess we will never know.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: B. Adams of Shelby, NC

I'm from LA, but my girlfriend lives in NC. So I decided to go visit her since we haven't seen each other in a long time. She usually walks along the water, so I decided to go with her this time. There I was, I was walking with my girlfriend , it was about 9:30, I think, but it was pretty dark. I had my flashlight with me at the time. We were walking along the water, when we heard a giant splash. We both thought it was just kids diving and playing and other things. So, we ignored, and again we heard the splash again. But it was to big, and to loud for someone to make that kind of a splash. I pointed my flashlight and we saw it — not the whole thing — but it was a long, slender looking snake, with fins which were not that long. I saw just the 3/4 of this animal looking thing. We couldn't believe it. The tail was about 9 inches long. I have never seen something like that!!!

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Frost of Beverly Hills/Huntington Beach, CA

In the summer of 2001, I was a resident on a small channel off Stuts Road. I saw a small gator approximately 4 feet long two different times. I also saw what I call a gar pike — long slender nose on pike body — approximately 3 feet long.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: B. Michael of Davidson, NC

I went to visit my grandfather last summer. We always go fishing. On the way back to the dock, something hit my oar.

I looked just in time to see a long shadow followed by what looked like a whale-like body with 2 long fins at the front swim deeper into the water until I couldn't see the shadow anymore.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: B. White of Helena, MT

From 1969 to the mid 1980's, my family owned an acre or so of land in the center of the cove nearest to Marker 13. We had an exceptionally long, deep-water pier and breaker wall (with granite stones) built there.

It was on that pier in the early 80's when I first saw what appeared to be a HUGE catfish.

I was probably 8 years old at the time, and my sighting was quickly dismissed as being fake by my brother and grandparents. Over the years, I've never let the talk of the sighting die down.

About 13 years ago, I asked my father about the possibilities of a fish like that in Lake Norman. He seemed to remember hearing of some "experimental" fish from a biology lab at the University being released into the lake circa 1974-78. I have no idea whether or not he meant Davidson or UNC Charlotte... He may have read about it in the newspaper or just heard about it from neighbors at the lake.

The "catfish" that I saw was definitely bigger than me, dark gray in color, approximately 4' long, 2' wide, 1' long whiskers, and I guess it would weigh about 40+ pounds. Bigger than anything I'd seen in Lake Norman!

When I noticed it, I was fishing for bluegill. It went straight under the pier, cruising the shoreline of the middle of the cove slowly, in about 5 feet of water. I never saw it after that, but the memory remains.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: R. Van Kuren of Rock Hill, SC

Me and my friend was out in my boat jumping wakes around Marker 13 when we saw what looked like a large stick come up out of the water. I went over to check it out but when I turned our boat around whatever we saw was gone.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: J. Teague of Indian Trail, NC

Two cousins from Virginia, my sister, and I spent the night on the lake at my sister's house. When my sister was showing the cousins their bedroom overlooking the lake (I was in the great room), all three ladies saw something that looked like "dolphins" or a Loch Ness-looking something going very fast through the water. They all came running out of the bedroom and grabbed binoculars to see what it was. They were all very excited and couldn't believe their eyes. I never saw the fish, but they said that it was at least the size of a dolphin and moving as a dolphin would with a curved motion. All three women were 60+ years old and educated. I never saw the "monster" but they couldn't believe their eyes and were quite curious as to what it was. That was about July 22.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: D. Myers of Hickory, NC

I was swimming in the northern part of the lake, when I saw the water part in front of me like something sticking out of the water and coming at me, I began to swim to our house boat when I felt it skim across my legs. It seemed to take forever for it to finally pass me. I swam violently to the boat and got into the boat and climbed on top of the second story part and looked out over the water to see a shadow swim and then dive deep into the water... the shape of the shadow was almost like a giant snake with a lot of fins. There were long very thick whisker looking things that stuck out of the water and was apparently the thing that I saw coming at me. The whiskers were a dark navy blue with red tips. We moved from the area the next month.

No photograph is available.

Submitted by: K. Spitz of Tripoli, WI

I was swimming near my friend's grandparent's dock on her birthday with a bunch of friends. They had this level on the dock where you could climb up there and jump off into the water. I jumped off and landed in the lake. As I was swimming up to the surface, I felt something brush up against my leg. I screamed and started swimming towards the dock. All of a sudden, something that looked like a fin popped up beside me.

No photograph is available.

A report of what seemed to be a catfish about 20 feet, at the most, next to the pier. It jumped from the water to snag a bird.

No photograph is available.