Hamilton City Hall several months ago was finally fished out yesterday -- more than double his original size.

"He was only a few inches when we first saw him,'' a City Hall employee said.

"Now look at him.'' The fish, which measured just under two feet, was plucked out of the pool by City Hall janitor Mr. John Adcock. He believes it grew to its current size by feasting on the bread and other solid foods that people often toss into the pond.

"I've seen people throw all sorts of things in there,'' said Mr. Adcock, who has worked at City Hall for the past eight years. "They're not supposed to.

We have a special type of food for the goldfish.'' He added: "For weeks I've been trying to get at (the pacus). Once I got a hook into one of them but it popped out.'' As in most great fish tales, Mr. Adcock wasn't even trying to catch his prey when lady luck smiled on him.

"I was just cleaning the pool when I saw him,'' he said. "I made a quick dive for him with a net and got him.'' Added Corporation of Hamilton Secretary Mr. Roger Sherratt: "Patience has paid off.'' For months there was concern that the three fish in the pool might be meat-eating piranha that would feed on the many goldfish that actually belong in the pond.

Although Mr. Adcock's catch does resemble a piranha in size and appearance, it was identified yesterday as a black-bellied pacu (pronounced pack-ooh).

"It's the largest of all the pacus, vegetarian in nature and comes from South America,'' explained Mr. Bryan Parkin, owner and manager of the Pic-A-Pet pet shop on Queen Street.

"In the natural world, it eats fruit that falls into the river. And even though it's big and ugly like one, it is not a piranha.'' Lamentably, Mr. Parkin said, he could not accommodate the particular fish caught yesterday.

"I have nowhere to put him,'' he told Mr. Adcock, who had lugged the pacu in a heavy pail of water from City Hall. "I just got a whole lot of fish in yesterday. I've got no room right now.'' The newly homeless pacu, however, did not stay so for long. After a bit of assiduous searching, the Corporation was able to find a home for the creature through Tropical Fish World in Southampton.

"We had a customer who bought a 135-gallon tank,'' said owner Mr. James Tavares, who explained that the pacu is considered a prize catch by many Amazon natives and can grow as heavy as 55 pounds.

"We asked him if he wanted to take him and he did. He's found a nice home.'' Added Mr. Tavares: "If they catch the other two, I don't think I'd have a problem selling them.'' Mr. Tavares said he knew of various tanks on the Island that could hold a 55-pound fish.

And though the Corporation has asked people to refrain from feeding the fish at City Hall, Mr. Tavares said the normally vegetarian pacu will feed on other fish if deprived of plants and berries.