Albert Cutler has a better fishing story than most. He also has a better driving story than most. And those two tales are one and the same.
On the morning of July 27, Cutler caught a fish out of the sky – using his truck. While driving on the highway, a largemouth bass was released from an eagle like airdropped cargo, lodging into his front bumper.
The two-second event turned into a week of attention for Cutler and his family, who were thrust into an unexpected spotlight as captivation grew around the one-in-a-million story. The tale first made its rounds on Cutler’s local Facebook group, “Lake Country 411.” He posted the story of a flying fish within hours of his catch, only to be swarmed with likes, comments and shares.
As Lake Country residents shared their fascination with the story, they also used the comments to tag local news stations. Within hours, Cutler had interviews scheduled with WISN12, FOX6 and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As if the local attention wasn’t enough, he soon had a conversation with a writer from Wired2Fish, a national outlet chronicling fishing tales.
“He said he’s published thousands of fishing stories, and he’s never had one about a fish dropping out of the sky,” Cutler said.
So what exactly happened?
The Cutler family was driving from church that morning in two cars, with Albert’s wife, Stephanie, and their three kids leading the caravan. With Albert tailing behind, his Ram 1500 played the role of angler on Highway 16, just between Nashotah and Okauchee.
“I looked up and saw a bird, and I was like, ‘Is that an eagle?’ I’m always checking, [but] I’ve never seen an eagle out on that stretch,” Cutler said.
The eagle swooped toward the highway, according to Cutler, and something slipped from its grip – right as the truck sped underneath it. As it plummeted, he realized that the falling blur was a fish.
The sound left Cutler believing that he had merely committed a piscatorial hit and run. “I had to call them in the front vehicle and ask if they saw it, and immediately they’re like, ‘Did that fish just fall on your car?’
When the convoy reached home, his daughter, Bernadette, spotted the fishy stowaway caught in the bumper of the truck.
“To have the evidence was kind of crazy,” Cutler said.
The 15-inch largemouth bass was jammed into the truck’s grill, forcing a complicated extraction. The ten-minute battle was eventually won with the use of a blue hockey stick, flopping Cutler’s prized catch onto the driveway.
“It wasn’t the conventional fishing technique,” Cutler said. “I don’t know if there’s any rules about that.”
Once out of the truck, the fish posed for a few photos, but then Cutler was left wondering what to do with the unorthodox catch. “Everybody in the [Facebook] group was like, ‘you gotta eat it or mount it.’ I looked at the mounting, it was kind of expensive. I was thinking about eating it, but then my father-in-law pointed out that the fish could have been dead when the eagle picked it up.”
Eventually, a decision was made, and after traveling by land, air and lake, the fish reached its final resting place at The Wildlife in Need Center. The rehabilitation facility in Oconomowoc stocked the fish into its queue of food for animals, re-entering it into the environmental food chain.
Though the fish’s story had reached an end, its legend only grew over the course of the week. The story, spread across local media, greeted Cutler at Bible studies, in his neighborhood and even in messages from college friends.
“People say I should buy a lottery ticket. If the chances are equal of winning the Powerball or catching a fish with your headlight, I’d be the type of person to catch a fish with the headlight.”
Though caught with a bit of luck, the 15-inch bass stands as Cutler’s largest catch, and may hold that title for years to come. But all that’s left of it now is memories and a fishing story – one that’s certainly better than most.
The fish could not be reached for comment on this story.
