Every fisherman wants to catch a big fish. But such a predatory, fresh-water fish, like catfish, is not very easy to catch, and there are specimens that it is simply impossible to fish out of water alone.
We’ll talk about such huge catfish, and in the end we will find out what is the largest catfish in the world. And the fish caught in different corners of the Earth entered our review.
🔴Attention. Due to the difficulty of finding illustrations on the topic, there may be inconsistencies in the subheadings of the article and the related images.
World record
According to documentary evidence, the largest catfish caught was from Lake Issyk-Kul. They caught the giant at the end of the 19th century, and he weighed 347 kilograms.
The length of the fish exceeded 4 meters, and in honor of its capture, an arch was installed on the shore of the lake in the form of fish jaws. Unfortunately, history has not preserved this attraction to this day.
Turkish eater
Back in 1970, Turkish fishermen caught fish more than 2 meters in size. After opening in the body of the fish was the corpse of a woman.
Later, two girls disappeared by the water and were attacked by a large catfish. But in history this happens very rarely. Basically, a person manages to fight back.
On our site there is a very interesting article about animals that avenged poachers. We highly recommend reading it.
Catfish from Spain
In 2009, a fisherman in a small Spanish river Ebre, fishermen from nearby villages caught a catfish, whose length was 2 meters. Interestingly, the caught specimen turned out to be an albino.
This Spanish giant weighed 88 kilograms. It took 5 people to get him out of the water. Another interesting fact, the Briton caught him, who came to go fishing with his Spanish friends.
Fishermen staged a photo shoot with a large freshwater fish, and then released.
Catfish from Belarus
Soma, slightly smaller sizes were caught by fishermen of Belarus. Catfish weighing 66 kilograms and 2 meters long entered the gear.
Fishermen spent more than an hour to pull out gear with huge fish. But long efforts were more than rewarded. After photographs for the story, catfish became the main course of the evening feast. At the table gathered not only fishermen, but also locals.
Catfish from Holland
A unique catfish is found in the pond of Centerparcs in Holland. Fish is a real national treasure, and is protected by the state.
He eats ducks, and according to eyewitnesses, he eats up to 3 pieces a day. No wonder that he grew to 2.3 meters. the Dutch and tourists who come to enjoy the fish call it affectionately “Big Mommy”.
Italian giant
One of the big catfish was caught at the very beginning of 2011 in Italy. The Italian Roberto Godi fished out of the water a fish weighing 114 kilograms and a length of 2 and a half meters.
The experienced fisherman was delighted, because for the first time in many years of practice, he caught such a giant. To get a freshwater monster ashore, 6 people helped Roberto.
After the weighing procedure and photo, the fish were released into the pond. Speaking of the biggest fish on the planet, thebiggest.ru has a very interesting article.
Catfish from France
On the river Rhone, which flows through the vastness of France, one of the tourists caught a real giant. The fish weighed 120 kilograms, and when measured in length, it turned out to be 2.6 meters.
Yuri Grisendi, who caught the fish, admitted that hunting and fishing are his favorite hobbies. Every year, while fishing, he tries to break his own record for the size of the caught fish, and after photographing he always releases his trophies.
Kazakh giant
A huge specimen of freshwater fish was caught on the Ili River in 2007. She weighed 130 kilograms, and when the catfish was measured, its length was 2 meters 70 centimeters.
Old-timers admitted that this is the largest specimen ever encountered in these places of Kazakhstan.
Russian record
In 2009, a group of fishermen fished on the Seim River in the Kursk region. Fishing turned out to be unusual, because the guys caught a catfish over 3 meters in size and weighing about 200 kilograms.
The fact of the capture was confirmed by the fish surveillance staff. The very fish had to be taken out of the water with the help of a tractor. Locals have seen giants here before, but they saw such a specimen for the first time.
From the Oder River
One of the huge freshwater predators was caught in Poland by fishermen on the Oder River. As it turned out, the age of the Polish giant was more than 100 years, and the size just impressed experienced fishermen - 4 meters with a weight of 200 kilograms.
Rumors of a cannibal catfish began to spread, as the body of a Nazi army officer was found inside the fish. The police were called in, but the version of the cannibal catfish was not confirmed, as the fish swallowed the officer’s body when he was already dead.
From Guinness Book
This largest catfish came to the pages of the book from the Mekong River. Thai fishermen caught the giant on May 1, 2005, and he was simply amazed at its huge size and weight. The fish weighed 293 kilograms, length from mustache to tail - 2.7 meters.
They wanted to let him go back into the river and establish observation, but, unfortunately, the fish died.
According to local residents, specimens of large-sized freshwater predators were caught in this place of the river before.
Conclusion
In the photo: Mouth of a catfish
Not all large specimens caught are documented, and this is one of the types of freshwater fish most shrouded in mysterious tales and legends. No wonder that in Russian fairy tales there are miracle fish of enormous size.
The large size of the fish and its habits have also given rise to many stories of cannibals that live in deep pools and await their victims. Indeed, catfish can be extremely dangerous even for humans. TheBiggest.ru editors are asking you to write how big catfish did you come across during fishing?
Article author: Valery Skiba