A British angler caught a jumbo 8-foot albino catfish that weighed 194 pounds (88 kg). After the fish’s weight was confirmed, it was released into the water, safe and sound.
Chris Grimmer, in his 40s, caught a giant albino catfish during his fishing trip in Spain. He broke the local record in 2011 for the hefty catch. It was the biggest albino catfish caught on the River Ebro, near Barcelona, Spain, which was 2 pounds (approx. 1 kg) heavier than the record held by a blind woman, Shelia Penfold, in the previous year.
“It took my reel and stripped it and it was then that I knew it was a big one,” he said.
After the catfish took his bait, Chris exhausted himself for 30 minutes to reel it in. The big fish’s strength was so great that it made Chris’s rod bend over double.
“It took me ages to bring it in, it was like trying to reel in a bus,” said Chris. “One of my mates went into the water to help lift it out.”
At that time, their tour guide had left them to buy food. When they called him, he immediately returned to where they were fishing.
The guide, Ashley Scott, said: “We know what the records are for catfish so we realized straight away that it was a record.”
“There was mayhem on the bank with people cheering and clapping. We had a bottle of champagne to celebrate it and Chris poured a drop into the river for the fish.”
The albino catfish was set free back to the water, well and safe, after it was weighed. “I was proper tired afterwards, and could hardly walk but it was worth it,” Chris said.
While Chris reeled in a gigantic 8-foot-long, 194-pound albino catfish, British angler Bernie Campbell hooked an 8-foot-long, 206-pound (approx. 93-kilogram) albino wels catfish while fishing in the same river—River Ebro—with his son, Gary, in 2013.
Skip hire boss Campbell had tried to catch the species in the past seven years in vain. “Right from my very first trip, I have wanted to catch an albino catfish, but I have never been successful. They are such beautiful fish but they have always evaded me,” he said.
Finally, Campbell caught it during the trip to Spain in 2013. And this cream-colored catfish beat the previous world record of 196 pounds (approx. 89 kg) held by Brit Phil Hilton! “I was three days into my holiday this year when I hooked into a big fish coming up to midnight,” he said.
Campbell used 1,800 feet of super-strong fishing line and took half an hour to haul in the enormous sea monster. By the end, he was “absolutely shattered.”
Like Chris, Campbell snapped a few photos with the rare catch. He weighed the fish before releasing it back in the river. “It was a huge fish but when we got it on the scales I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “It was my first albino and it was a world record.”
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