Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

marden · Nov 25, 2006, 04:15 AM

Giant catfish caught in Spain

The picture of the giant catfish that Duncan Rooke (left) and Stephen Buss caught near Barcelona, Spain on July 6 2005 has finally been released. No, that's not a fake. (Same pic here).

The female catfish weighed a whopping 212 pounds (96 kg, 15 stone) and was 7'7" long (2.3 m). Rooke, Buss, and their new friend are pictured above in the River Ebro.

There's another picture here . The BBC reports that the Catfish Conservation Group says this beats the previous record ("Catfish Caught By A Briton") by 1 pound. Five stout men were needed to bring the massive sea creature ashore.

According to Rooke:

"It dragged me down the rocks. I nearly went in. God knows how I didn't... "When you hook one they are just unbelievable... "I knew I was toppling and I just let my weight go backwards and fell... Then it pulled me back on to my feet... They are scary things when you catch them..."
The Daily Mail quotes Buss:

"Two of us nearly had a hernia lifting her up the bank and we were shattered afterwards but we still had the energy to cheer and dance around her."
After an hour of admiring their catch and having it weighed and verified, they expelled air from its stomach and let it go.

Rooke, 32, lives in Woking.

http://fishosaur.com/europe/giant-ca...in-000018.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05214/547273.stm

When Carl Smith hooked his first catfish, it took two friends to hold him back as the 226lb (102kg), 8ft (2.4m) monster tried to turn the tables and instead drag him into the River Ebro in Spain.
“The force of the initial tug practically sent me crashing to the ground,” Mr Smith said. “Its mouth, with rows of sharp teeth, made it look like a man-eating shark.”

The battle to land the giant fish, which beat the European record by 2lb, took the school caretaker from Owestry 35 minutes. The catfish, a European wels, was then weighed, measured and held for a photograph — just in case anyone questioned this fisherman’s tale. “We christened him Jaws and released him back in the water,” said Mr Smith, pictured holding the tail.

European wels catfish are common in lakes and rivers in Spain, Italy and Greece, but generally reach a weight of 80lb to 100lb and about 3ft in length. They are reputed to eat anything which can fit in their huge mouths.

Giant Catfish Caught
British fisherman Carl Smith (pictured with friend, Dave Jones) caught a giant wels catfish, dubbed "Jaws," measuring 8 ft in length and weighing a record-breaking 226 lbs. Two friends held tightly onto Smith as he battled the monster fish for 35 minutes. After Jaws was weighed, measured and photographed, he was released back into the River Ebro in Spain. Get more details at timesonline.co.uk.http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

olePigeon · Nov 25, 2006, 04:36 AM

Cool, they let her go.

Big fish.

himself · Nov 25, 2006, 07:53 AM

Wow, that's cool. I haven't gone fishing since I was a kid.

I'm happy they released them, too.

KeyLimePi · Nov 25, 2006, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Cool, they let her go.

Yea, in Thailand they're called Mekong catfish, and they usually don't get let go.

ambush · Nov 25, 2006, 11:39 AM

where are the ice and refrigerator.

zro · Nov 25, 2006, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by KeyLimePi

Yea, in Thailand they're called Mekong catfish, and they usually don't get let go.

I gather from the article that that one was found dead.

BlueSky · Nov 25, 2006, 12:51 PM

Thassa noss fish.

Blasphemy · Nov 25, 2006, 02:05 PM

holy cow. Makes one wonder if there are larger ones out there, or what that one eats.

Tiresias · Nov 25, 2006, 02:12 PM

They admired it and weighed it for an hour before they let it go? How does that work?

olePigeon · Nov 25, 2006, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Tiresias

They admired it and weighed it for an hour before they let it go? How does that work?

Some people fish for sport.

nonhuman · Nov 25, 2006, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Some people fish for sport.

I think he was refering to the amount of time that it was out of the water.

IceEnclosure · Nov 25, 2006, 07:48 PM

yea that's a long time.

MattJeff · Nov 25, 2006, 08:16 PM

maybe they dipped it in ever few mins

Rev-O · Nov 25, 2006, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by Tiresias

They admired it and weighed it for an hour before they let it go? How does that work?

Just says that they let it go, doesn't say anything about it living.

KeriVit · Nov 25, 2006, 11:15 PM

I'm hungry.

Tiresias · Nov 26, 2006, 02:29 AM

Originally Posted by Rev-O

Just says that they let it go, doesn't say anything about it living.

"It's not dead. It's resting."

I heard catfish are hardy motherf**kers and that they squeal and spit and carry-on when they're landed. Is this true?