DAVENPORT, Iowa — A fish stranded by receding floodwaters in downtown Davenport was scooped up and returned to the river by the crew of a local brewery Thursday afternoon.
News 8 photojournalist Scott Weas was downtown on another assignment when he spotted the rescue attempt. The kitchen staff from Front Street Brewery got creative after owner Tim Baldwin saw the fish in a puddle left by the receding Mississippi River floodwaters.
"So he (Baldwin) asked us to come in the kitchen and asked anybody that they want to go out to catch it. So we thought he was playing a little game. Then actually he was really true about it," staff member Michael Hollingshed said.
Hollingshed took off his shoes and got in the water, eventually catching the fish using a plastic container.
"(It) started being slippery and everything. So everybody started falling, then so I just took off my shoes and just went right into the river to catch it," Hollingshed said.
Hollingshed said they were motivated to rescue the carp as they saw it circling, trapped in the small amount of water left in the puddle.
The rescuers walked about a block over to an area where they could release the fish back into the main channel of the river.
Hollingbeck says he feels like that was his good deed for the day, and hoped it scored him some brownie points with his boss.
"Yeah, I feel real good especially to be in front of the job. So letting the boss see it...definitely felt real good about it," Hollingbeck said.