When a classified ad appeared in the Fresno Bee last month looking for the owner of a lost goldfish, David Letterman couldn't help but bite. But the Fresno Bee bit off a little more than it could chew:

'Reunion' turns out to be just one big fish tale
By Cyndee Fontana
Fresno Bee

Did you hear the one about the fat, blind goldfish rescued off a lawn and reunited with his owner?

Turns out it was more than just a fish story. It was a hoax.

Wednesday -- when The Bee published an article about Charley the goldfish's reunion with his owner -- some readers called to blow holes in the story.

Charley is real. So are Lori Igasan and Bernadette Planting, the two women featured in the article. But they're not strangers to each other, as they told reporter Will Albritton, and good old Charley never was lost or discovered on Igasan's lawn.

"Journalists are trained to be skeptical, but at some point we have to take people at their word," said Betsy Lumbye, executive editor and senior vice president of The Bee. "We're disappointed that these ladies weren't honest, and disappointed that we didn't catch the hoax."

Both women said they meant no harm with their yarn, which started with a classified ad in The Bee and achieved minor notoriety on "Late Show with David Letterman."

To Igasan and Planting, friends for several years, it was simply a joke.

"It was not our intention to hurt anybody," said Igasan, who launched the hoax with an ad that read: "Found: Large, obese goldfish. Approx 11yrs old, blind as a bat."

Igasan said the ad was part joke, part genuine effort to unload a fish she no longer wanted. She said she received about 150 telephone calls.

I know it's kind of hard when the sources are working against you, but you've got to admit the story sounded a little fishy from the get go. This particular story got my attention mostly because they did a video story on it and that's interesting to me because I'm our newspaper's new multimedia reporter. The story was so-so, and now it's a complete fraud.

I think more should have been done but whatever. It was fun while it lasted.

I'm kind of in one of those funks at the moment but I feel it may soon translate into some more entries. Hooray! Next week should be better!