Pipe bomb found near Lake Lewisville likely linked to illegal fishing, officials say

Pipe bomb found at Lake Lewisville

Police believe a pipe bomb found near Lake Lewisville could have been part of an illegal fishing scheme. FOX 4's Vania Castillo has more.

LEWISVILLE, Texas - The Denton bomb squad removed a pipe bomb that was found near Lake Lewisville earlier this week. It turns out, people are using them to illegally fish.

Lake Lewisville Pipe Bomb

What we know:

Lewisville police said a man called 911 on Monday after finding a suspicious device near Lake Park. 

Denton’s bomb squad responded and confirmed it was a pipe bomb.

Lewisville police said that while this is the first time they’ve come across something like this, the Denton bomb squad has seen a growing trend of people using these kinds of devices to fish.

The explosion kills fish and then people can easily scoop them up.

What they're saying:

Mike Reiter is the man who found the bomb and called 911. He told FOX 4 he removed it from the lake while out with his metal detector.

He said he initially had no clue what it was.

"I kicked it into a metal scoop over and over again, like stabbing down in it with a scoop, trying to scoop it up, I probably cut it and scratched it and nicked it up, had no idea what I was doing," he said. "A lot of people were like, ‘Oh, you're a hero.’ No, no, no, no. Every single person I talked to said they would not have done what I did. That doesn't make me a hero. It makes me an idiot."

What we don't know:

Police said the bomb was successfully destroyed, and the lake has since reopened. However, they still don’t know who put it there.

Their investigation is ongoing.