look at this big b*stard....



what do you reckon it weighs ?

 

Jesus christ....where was that caught...big enough to be a man in a suit that!

Thats got to be....10st?

 

More than one person can lift??

PMSL at the bloke on the left, looks like his going under any min!

 

Thats a big boy

 

is that from france or spain?

 

213lbs ?

 

what a catch!

 

Ima caught one bigger than that

 

a metric tonne

 

250+lbs of French Catfish by the looks of it

 

Wow! Its a biggie, 170lb ish? I reckon from the River Ebro in Spain Like to have a go at them myself

 

200lb, big whiskers

 

you seen the size of the line they used ?

its about as thick, as the metal core washing line in my back garden

 

strange they need to use it that big, ive seen catfish to over a hundred pound caught on 20lb line with 70 pound leader to stop the velcro like teeth wearing it away..

 

Well.... whats the weight then ?

 

227 lbs

 

you tell me I am no fishing expert

 

I think they can grow to over 400 lbs!

My personal best is an 11lb 2oz Mirror Carp, but I'm more of a match fisherman than a speciman hunter.

 

i imagine, one bloke fishing on his own could not reel that in ?

 

Yes you can, you have to let the current of the river help you to tire it out, and then you can beach it or net it, you'd probably need some help near the end, but for most of the fight you'd be on your own.

 

so is it definately a French Catfish ?

you reckon, they released it back into the water or kept it to eat/sell ?

 

No it's not French as it's not wearing a beret or a string of onions!!!

It probably is French and I imagine they put it back, might have been caught from a lake rather than a river, somewhere like Lake Cassien.

 

I was reading a book on some bloke about fishing and he was fishing in the river nile and caught a 181lb cat fish but wasn't a record as the record is a 213lb catfish

 

You get some MASSIVE Nile Perch in there too!

 

that one in the photo, could well be the record then.... i reckon that must weigh 213 pounds...

thats 15.21 stone!

 

It depends how you are fishing for them. If you're on a boat then they just get handed up to the side, unhooked and released. If you are on the bank then they are normally beached depending on the size As for eating them - yuck! The French do but then they would eat a dead person provided they were covered in garlic

Pound for pound they are one of the best fighting fish in Europe. I've caught them up to 76lb and can assure you of it! And they grow extremely fast - I was a bailiff for Leisuresport (now RMC Angling) and did a lot of the Catfish stocking in their fisheries.

 

Thats not the line that was used to catch it hanging from its mouth, thats what is used to tether the fish for a while so it recovers in the shallows, a rope passed through the mouth and out of the gill opening.

Dragon so you in the fisheries business then mate? I went to Sparsholt when i was a bit younger, out of the trade now though, not enough money Nice line of work though. Where were you, Yately complex?


Never caught a Catfish, PB Carp is 29lb 8oz though

 

Not anymore mate, as you say, no money in it! I was a Junior Ranger at Yateley as a kid and a Bailiff until early twenties and all for a free ticket - must have been daft Tried to join NRA but needed about 10 degrees in Biology, Zoology etc. yeah right, study for five years and then get a £10k a year job, not a chance.

I weighed all the stocky Catfish that went into the Matchlake and the Split Lake back in the mid 90's with the guys from Thorpe Park. The biggest was 11lb and I believe they are all now upwards of 40lbs+

Haven't fished it since it went syndicate

Strangely enough I have all my Carp gear on e-Bay at the minute if you know anyone that wants the whole setup for peanut money?!

Jim.

 

God damn, WHY did I never think about buying fishing gear at ebay.. loads of Hardy items My Visa will hate me now
But thnx guys

 

now thats a nice catch ......... i catch them all the time

 

You got that right, it was an ambition of mine too lol, all for getting a job with the NRA (Environment Agency) but when i found out about the qualifications you needed then that was it for me haha, i have got the Fisheries Management Diploma from Sparsholt but the competition for the jobs in the Environment Agency is severe, its on a "who you know" basis also. Only the really lucky will have the right jobs and then they stay in those jobs for life lol

I worked in Fish Farming for 11 yrs, then got pissed off with it all, i wanted a job where you could put your tools down at the end of the day and come in the next day and NOT find them DEAD lol

Property Maintenance/Building/Plastering now, a bit more lucrative lol

 

PMSL - I had that problem a couple of times with aquariums where the thermostats went down - anyone got any chips to go with that?!

Casper - don't worry, I take VISA so kick it again

 

Dragon: link to your auction?

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MESE%3AIT&rd=1

 

fooking huge

 

Thats a good deal Dragon, i know how expensive carp fishing kit can be

 

Tell me about it - it's like, hmmm, spent over £1600 and just about to give it away for £600!

Oh well, that's £600 towards a new car that will at least get used rather than live in the garage

 

Just went and spent £60+ on my Club and rod licences for the coming season!

 

That's cheap!

 

It's only a small club mate, we've got about 4 lakes and a few stretches of a couple of rivers. Only 3 of the lakes are worth fishing though, two of them often have match weights between 70 and 100 lbs though so in my opininio their worth the licence fee on their own.

First trip of the season will be next weekend.