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Silurus Glanis - Wels Catfish (Catfish angling) |
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Catfish photos, N.713 |
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| 01-02-2004 | lucas.van.der.geest | ID:713 |
| My personal best and caught on a live eel. It's very fat and had quite a number of bite marks from other catfish!
The length was 215 cm (6.55 ft) and the weight was 85 kg (187.4 lbs). The photo was taken by Yuri Grisendi (GSI) who helped me also to weight the fish. |
| Mon record personnel. L'appât utilisé était une anguille. Le poisson a des marques de morsures sur le dos. La photo a été prise par Yuri Grisendi (GSI) qui m'a aidé pour mesurer et peser le poisson: taille 215cm et poids 85kg. |
[IMG]http://xvella.free.fr/photos/00000713.jpg[/IMG] |
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| PHOTO: © Lucas Van Der Geest | |||||||
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| My personal best was only 100lbs 16oz blue cat in the beaver lake in Arkansas. There is said to be bigger cats near the dam. Congratulations. And it is said they will introduce the Silurus Glanis to the beaver in the next year or so. Praying they do i wouldlove to catch one of them in 20 or so years. |
| Texas is a good place to catch big catfish, and it's a good place to catch a lot of catfish. We have Channel, Blue, and Flathead catfish, and many lakes with catfish in the 50-100 pound range. I like to catch my limit of Channel cats in the 4-14 pound range and fill the freezer with fillets. I "surf" cast, and use jugs and trotlines. Come on down and have some fun. |
| nice fish but cath and release that much fish to eat is not an option when you love to eat one of the best tasting fish in Texas |
| Hi. Just leaving my footprint. I was searching the internet for photos of pterodactyls which led to sabertooth cats which led to an underwater photo of a white tiger swimming which looked cool so I searched on "big cats swimming" and came upon the catfish picture and I followed the story and here I am. |
| Very very good fish, congratulations!!! |
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http://www.neatorama.com/2006/05/08/top-15-amazingly-ginormous-fat-cats
I was looking at the page of faked pictures and recognized the cat they spliced into Lucas's picture. Riley, not fat but impressively large. I love the catfish picture! That thing is huge! |
| Hilarious. I have had a good chuckle this afternoon reading the posts. I think the videos speak for themselves! If anyone still has doubts take a look for crying out loud. Happy fishing! |
| Lucas, may i say congratulations on such a wonderful cat, considering my personal best is a 42 pounder, though that was right here in England! for all those who believe that this a in fact a blue catfish i can assure you that your are worng, the tail fin and anal fin are completely different from that of a wels cat, though respectively the heads of both fish are very simular, so for a non-experience angler the mistake is a easy one to make. |
| So what do you boys do with these big cat fish, I hope you throw them back in, how long does it take for one of these fish to get this big? |
| Was happy to read that Lucas returns fish to the water. Any fish old enough & able to last long enough to get this size, should be allowed to keep on growing. Wish everyone would do the same. |
| Hi guys; this thread looks a little dead, but I couldn't resist a comment. This beastie definitely came from the Po in Italy and was definitely a wels cat. I've been catching them for a decade and know what they look like... It's a great fish but not the biggest I've seen from the Po. Check out these guys - they're a guiding service who operate on the Ebro in Spain. http://www.spanish-catfish-ebro.com/ These days it's very possible to get fish in excess of 200 pounds!! Bigger fish swim in the Po, but you won't beat the Ebro for numbers and average weight. I had 46 fish in 4 days fishing on the Ebro. 30 of them were over 100 pounds! Tight lines. |
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Sir, your catfish is (was) adorable. I keep kitty fish as pets, and had I the chance, I would have dug a big pond in my backyard and named yours Julio.
http://www.templelooters.com/aquarium/shark.htm |
| I've been fishing my whole life and... well... congrats dude! |
| I am from Illinois in the United States. This is truly an amazing catch. My personal record is a 31 lb Channel. The fish in the pic resembles a channel (look at the spotting) more than a blue (as so many keep stating). I have witnessed American cats near the size of this one, but they were not caught. They lie at the base of the local dam feeding on all the fish that get sucked through the flow gates. You can view them through the windows at the base within the dam. Once again Great Job Lucas!! Thanks for sharing your catch with all of us Stateside. |
| hello everyone i am a proud texan and am ashamed of the rude people who have posted comments here love your site and as fisherman we should be passing the love of the sport and respect of others to the future generations |
| http://momentoffame.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/8446/cat/524/page/3 |
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Finally the truth.
Thank you for posting this site especially with the links to all the other huge catfish. I have been amazed by the site and the look of sheer joy portrayed on all the angler's faces. I believe the world record was recently set by a Mekong giant catfish of 646 lbs or 300kg in Thailand. |
| Guys thats one huge cat, I would have loved to been there to see you two fight that monster in. Good luck in the future with your fishing and dont forget to take a child fishing with you. |
| That's a big cat. Recently reported was a 295 kgs (yes KGS!) catfish caught in Thailand. Seeing is believing - haven't seen photo yet. Add salt to this unconfirmed report. |
| I have cought 35 inch cat fish be for and thought they were wales ontil I got them up on to shore. I could just not enven begen to think of what kind of fite this cat would put up. That cat ways 45 more ponds than me and I would be a little skidish to get him on my line. |
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How common is it to catch a monster like this in the Po.
I saw an Amazon cat the size of a station wagon at the Milwakee (Wisconson, USA) zoo when i was ten, which was bigger than the one pictured. I can only imagine what else lies at the bottom of that river! |
| Why does that link about the Fish in Miss. say "World Record"? It is not as big as the one on this page, right? |
| Hello and grats on the nice fish. I was wondering on what the age might be for a cat that size? |
| Theres a new United States Catfish record.. It was caught in Illinios in the Mississippi River.. Heres a link to the article.. http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050524173309990004&ncid=NWS00010000000001 |
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Hi just to let everybody know there is fish that large here in the United States. But that large of fish hangs mostly around close to the damns and eat the small quality of smaller fish.
As divers who check the drain by the damn have actaully seen them. They have been spotted in the damns by the Arizona lakes. So if anybody thinks these large fish ae fake. You are in la - la land. Wake up. This is a proven true fact.. REX |
| Life is like a coin you can spend it any way you like but you can only spend it once. |
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That is a truly awesome fish!!
Kentucky, USA |
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Nice catch Lucas!
To all you people still doubting the real story all you need to do is check out sites like http://www.grupposiluro.it/ and http://www.meervalstudiegroep.com/. |
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to FUNNYLOOKINGOWL:
for age...: i could say this fish is near 20 years old for taste...: too old for good tasting meat remarks...: this fish was released after capture & photos |
| Hey, is anyone going to answer my question (see above) as to the age & taste of these catfish? |
| I have absolutely no idea how I got to this website but it is interesting stuff even though I know nothing about fishing. I was wondering... How old would a catfish this size be? Also I wouldn't condone anyone eating anything that's survived long enough to grow this big, but if one was to eat a catfish of this size, would it taste the same as a smaller catfish? |
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It truly amazes me that this started over a year ago, and after all this time it is still being passed around as a "new" item.
Lucas - this really is an awesome catch, My husband loves to take our two children fishing here in GA - to them a 5lb trout might as well be 100lbs! - Their Faces are just as ecstatic regardless of how big it is. That being said - I can only imagine the look and overall excitement on YOUR face when you brought this big cat in - after all - aren't we all just big kids? GREAT JOB!! |
| All I can say is WOW! Living in SA I have seen some cat fish which I thought was big! But nothing compared to waht I just saw on here. I came accross this article via http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_slideshow45a.htm - at 1st I didnt beleive it... but all I can say, this is one fish story I believe! |
| Lucas says he practices catch and release. Since that fish is about average for the Harpeth River near Nashville, Tenn. I don't blame him for putting it back. I'd be ashamed to talk about it, too. |
| Hi, Lucas this time around I want to correct my first comment. I meant to say if folks respond negatively, I would not respond. So Lucas when are you going to take your trip this year? I would love to meet you, see that part of the world and try to hook one of those wels cats. If you ever get into texas make it known on your site, and I'll tell you where to go to catch some big ole blues! |
| Are those wels catfish any good to eat? Have they been stocked anywhere in the USA? |
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;-)
Dear DRSHERW and others... Why not just follow the link here below "See all photos of LUCAS VAN DER GEEST (photo-eng.php?sub=42&name=LUCAS.VAN.DER.GEEST)... and find out ? |
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Lucas? Are you the gentleman on the left or the right? Thank you.
Curious lady from Virginia! |
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see our new video section:
http://xvella.free.fr/videos/videos-eng.php |
| Hello world. I grew up in south Louisiana, "geaux tigers"! and now live in Texas. I love to fish and target big lake cats. I had the pleasure of meeting a true urban hero. His name is Cody Mullenix, he caught splash, the world record blue cat caught on rod and reel. I saw the wonderfull creature with my own eyes, took some pictures of her and took one with the man himself. He is a quiet regular guy and is very humble. If you want to see splash, you can go to http://www.procats.com and there is a very good write up on the truth of this catch. The fish is amazing and the story is too. I walked up to Cody and said, "hi hero!". He just kinda grinned and said "man I'm just a guy that caught a big fish." I said you are a hero to the catch and release world, and you are surely a hero to splash. I agree that this website is one of sharing a passion not one to argue, so if you respond to any of these friendly guys or gals on this site, dont even think for a moment that i will even consider responding. You guys across the world from us here, more power to you and thank you for sharing your stories and pictures. I love learning about the different species of cats world wide. I've seen 80 pounders before, but splash was the biggest. God bless the world, and yourself.!!! |
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I have only one question...
Why in the world would you ever kill and eat that fish, he was a monument, a "god of fish" of sorts.. he should have been kept alive and shown off! but none the less, congrats on the catch. |
| How did you catch that fish? It seems as if it would be wiggling and writhing to get free. How do you get it to stay still to hold it? There are some amazing forms of life on this planet! Fisherpeople included. |
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Frank, I love catchin 26 LB. blues, but I pray I never do it on one of my 12 Ft. crappie rods LOL! Lucas, very nice fish by the way, I am curious about what method you use for fish of that magnitude. Is a truot line the method of choice or a throw line, stump hook? Here in North Texas I've taken several nice cats in the 60# range with a short line in conjunction with a 2 Ft. rubber section (to avoid break offs) tied to a stump near the river channel. Usualy anywhere you have a depth of around 12 Ft. close to deeper water (25-35 Ft.) Bait of choice is usually Carp or small Pearch. Also I would like to add that I live about 35 miles south of Lake Texoma and the state record 121.5 lb. "Texoma High Fin Blue" was caught on a light rod and reel with 20 Lb. line. Pretty amazing I thought! But anyway next time you fishermen of the world are in the NE Texas area around the Sulpher River in January stop and get yourself some Crappie jigs and spend the day jerkin out 16 inch Crappie as fast as you can get em in the boat lol! Now thats Big fun in Texas
L8r tig! |
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Nice fish, Lucas.
What did you use for bait, a baby?; ) We have a saying here in Texas... Eat... Sleep... Go Fishing" Words to live by. |
| Lucas, You're an animal. Great fish! I caught a 26 pound blue last spring with 8# test and a light spinning rig while fishing for crappie. Took about 20 minutes to land that one so yours had to be a hoot! Great job from Houston. |
| Back in '91, I was part of canoe trip that went the distance of the Danube... To the person that enquired about Danube catfish - well we didn't do any fishing but we did see a couple of local fisherman (in Serbia, then Yugoslavia) with a couple of 50 plus pound Cats (net caught) and then farther down the river (just past Belgrade) we cruised up on a big, big cat who was cruising topside. We startled it, it scared the crap out of us. It wasn't as big as this latest photo but it was still a very big fish. Ya, your Grandpappy was telling you the truth- big, big Cats in the Danube. |
| Firstly congrats to the captors of the fish, i am from south of India. I myself have caught a catfish or two, but i must say i have never seen a catfish larger than 2 feet (at my place) so i am curoius to know if there are such kind of monstrous catfish in indian rivers, cud anyone enlighten me to this quirey of mine. |
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All I have to say is "WOW" to the taller guy on the right in the pic. What a hottie. I also noticed, while looking at other pics of guys with their big fish, that it must be a pre-requisite that you be a hot guy to catch the big fish. Throw me a line!!
Congrats Lucas on the big fish. |
| Hey folks, Please stop with the illiterate typos. To recognize any type of catfish look at its body parts. Anyone with half a brain can see that a wels has an anal fin more like a giant eel than other catfish. Also some wels in the black sea, if I am correct may have measured around 16 feet long and very likely licked their chops when a fisherman came into view. As was mentioned before he is in the genus Silurus which is different than our american cats. So. Since that is the case, not to worry, he is in a different weight class like us powerlifters and don't need to compete. All in all, anything that really yanks your pole and gives you pleasure is really great! |
| I've only caught 2 fish in my life no matter how many times I've gone fishing. One was too small and one was a perch. My ass is jealous down to the tips of my toes!!!! |
| I believe that this a huge azz catfish! But the fact that it was caught in TX?? That is just a flat out lie!!! I do believe that the catfish was caught on an eel, one of my friends caught an 80 lb catfish in a 30 acre lake on an eel. I have read many different stories and this is the only one i believe. CONGRATS. |
| Super catfish. Our Texas record blue cat is quite a bit smaller, but still a nice fish. I can't believe all the idiots that have written in claiming your pic is a fake. Never heard of the Wels species, but you sure have taken some nice cats out of Italy. Congratulations on a beautiful fish. |
| When the photo first appeared and it was stated that it was caught in North America, I was suspicious. Take a good look at the anal fin and the caudal fin, continuous. Big cats still are isolated from one another. Take a look at the picture of the real state record taken from Lake Texoma, 121 1/2 lb. |
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What a fish! When I first saw this pic I knew there was no way that sucker was pulled out of Lake Texoma! An old member of the Bassmasters Association, and the daughter of a frequent fisherman, that cat just didn't look anything like the fish I saw pulled out of Texoma.
I grew up in and around Oklahoma lakes, and the largest catfish (or any other fish for that matter) that I ever saw fished out of the water was as long as I was (I was about 9 years old), though I don't know how heavy. Okie Noodling-style a huge catfish which I saw, still struggling to breathe, laid out on the tail of his pick-up truck, reaching from end to end. I refused to venture into the murky red waters of the local lake it was pulled from for the rest of the summer! |
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size: 256 cm / 7.80 ft
weight: 110Kg / 242.5 lbs http://xvella.free.fr/photos/photo-eng.php?sub=21&idx=109 |
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http://xvella.online.fr/photos/photos-eng.php?sub=21&idx=782
How hard do these fish fight? A 200+lbs cat caught in a float tube must be a hell of an adventure! I studied amazon fish in Brasil for several years and was fortunate to catch a few 500lbs giants (including one that tore the bow off my boat), but never on a float tube-the thought of piranhas and huge cats lurking below will probably keep me from trying that. Anyone know good links for learning more about these giant european cats? By the way Lucas, congrats on catching the record catfish in Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina... |
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Lucas, Great catch!
i live in Tennessee and the biggest catfish i ever caught was only 14 lbs hahaha altho, i seen pics of one a guy from a fishin chat here on aol caught in bama weighin 111 lbs. i thought his was a biggun till i seen yours! so which guy are u in this pic ? i wished i could catch me one that big, by the way ? what did u use for bait to catch that monster ? u can write me back at KarenSilin@aol.com i been curious about this pic its been all over the net and i thought it was a phony, but if ur for real then thats awesome! Have a great day and tight lines! |
| If CATMAN_033 really was a fish biologist, therefore educated, I don't think he would have so many spelling errors. Additionally, he would probably refer to himself as a marine biologist. |
| I have been fishing for flatheads and blues my hole life. I am also a fish biologist, and I must say, I wish I could have studied this fish. Becouse I didnt and from what I have learned over 40 years in my studies leads me to believe this is a hokes. Although I wont I wont go in to detail. There is also no records of this fish ever being caught. The world record was broken by your catch but you didnt turn it in. That makes no sence!! Well if it is true congrats on the catch. |
| Nice catch! Congratulations! I got here looking for the origin of the picture. I bet Lucas never imagined his picture was going to be used as a joke around the world. I saw it at an outdoors website here in Mexico. |
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Wow, you guys rock - someday I want to catch a big fish like that - the only things I've caught are little mountain trout (6-8 inches) in Yosemite and one inedible fish about 10 inches in the aforementioned Lake Texoma (visiting relatives). No bass, but a whole mess of good perch for dinner: )
{moderated}: Please use our link page for link exhanges... |
| Nice fish indeed. I am curious if most or all of the persons targeting these fish practice catch and release. It would be a shame to keep a fish which is larger than the fisherman. |
| it looks the same (and same place too)... |
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to TINY:
http://www.hunt101.com/showphoto.php?photo=193794&sort=7&thecat=998 |
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Hi R_H19 !
thank you for your comment. the webpage you have found seems to be out of date. the webmaster has put right information in this page: http://www.greenapple.com/~jorp/amzanim/rten.htm |
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I am a beginning catfisher and this is inspiring.
Maybe one day I will get one like this. FYI - Here is a link with the your photo attached to the wrong name: http://www.greenapple.com/~jorp/amzanim/newspecphoto.htm |
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Silucas, I want to congratulate you on catching the State record catfish of about 20 of the 50 United states. This is a mighty fine fish.
It seems that someone has copied your photo and sent it to a lot of the newspapers here in the U.S., stating that it is the new state record. This is real funny because we do not even have this species of catfish in North America. I can not stop laughing the stories are so funny. This fish has made a mockery of the newspapers, and has proved just how gullible people really are. Once again I congratulate you on a fine catch. |
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People are still passing that photo around as an american catfish record ... just recently as yesterday someone asked me if I'd ever caught one that big and I said nope and that ain't a US catfish or something like that and pointed um here to show where the picture originated ... you might be interested to know that one of them redneck boys edited the photo and put a nuclear power plant in the background on the most recent one I seen at http://www.hunt101.com/img/191136.jpg
hahaha I guess the story isn't big enough for them so they have to blow it up even bigger |
| As I young boy, my father and I caught catfish in the shallow marsh waters along the Southwest Pass of the Mississipi utilizing trot lines. These river cats were in excess of 5 ft. long and move into the shallow waters in spring to spawn. Unfortunately this was prior to catch and release fishing and there was not the glamour of claiming records. On numerous occasions the catfish were so large that we could only carry one at a time in the piroque. I no longer live in Louisiana, but have taught my son the advantage of catch and release fishing, although we still take selected fish home for the cookpot. |
| That is one Big Cat. My wife and I would really love to catch one of that size. We've caught some that we considered monster cats. 50-70lbs. But, this one makes them look like babies. We caught ours in South Texas and Southern Louisiana. |
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What I want to know is who is that burning hunk of manhood helping you hold that fish, Lucas?!
Suddenly I want to leave my things behind and become a fisherwoman in Italy... Okay - so can you eat these things? The fish not your friend :) I know you practice catch and release, but have you ever heard of or actually tasted one? Does it taste the same as the smaller varieties? |
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I would like to give credit where its do for the 121 in a half pound 60 inch blue catfish caught in lake texahoma jan.16,2004 to CODY MULLENIX.
Way to go. It really makes an angler smile to know that you would release such a monster. Thats a true sportsman. I once invited a fellow named Harlen Jordan to go deer hunting with me. All the guy wanted to bring was his camera. He told me that if he took a picture as close as an marksman can take a shot, who would argue with letting the trophy deer live. P.S. thanx texas aggie for stating that not all texans think alike. There are a few that need to enjoy our tourists most famous, I35 north. hehehe |
| I received the above picture in an email quoting it was a 140 lb cat caught on Lake Texoma here in Texas. In amazement and slight disbelief I searched the web and found the truth.I then edited the forward and sent it back out with the real texas and U.S. record blue cat: 121 lbs caught on a rod and reel on Lake Texoma this past January. I'm sure there are bigger there, but bass fishing is huge in Texas, more popular than catfishing. BUT I may start catfishing if I could catch some lunkers, WOW! Congrats on the huuge fish Lucas. |
| Awesome fish! I am a catfisher here in Texas and we see Blue and Flathead catfish in the 100 lbs. range quite often. The new state record is a 121 lb. Blue cat. Nothing close to the size of your Wels cats. |
| I guess the fact that Lucas caught the cat and not the other way around means humans are more or less still at (or near) the top of the food chain but HOLY COW that is one scary looking critter (sharks not withstanding)!!!! |
| Very nice... We catch bull reds in salt water up to 40lbs from shore, but nothing like this.. Congrats on your catch.. When may I come to Italy and have you as a guide?.. Again.. VERY NICE.. |
| I'm a lady from Louisiana who loves to fish. A 5# blue cat on a crappie jig and pole is pretty awesome. Enjoyed the pics and the website. I may have to make a trip to Italy one day. Keep fishing... |
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What a marvelous fish. Congratulations to Lucas. Great web site, too; entertaining, informative and an international community.
P.S. As Italy is south of Europe, Texas is south of the U.S. and north of Mexico. :-) |
| Gaetano's giant one: 257cm/100Kg 7.83ft/220.5lbs ../photos/photo-eng.php?sub=21&idx=782 |
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;-)
Australian web site http://www.rexhunt.com.au says: "Catch of the Month: Keith from South Africa with a HUGE Wells Catfish catch!" Congratulations Lucas (alias Keith)!!! |
| TRUTH OR FICTION: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/catfish.htm |
| Those are very impressive fish. I spent the weekend snagging paddlefish in Missouri (USA), but they are nothing compared to your Po River catfish! |
| Yes, there are catfish in the Danube, so your grandfather could very well have told you the truth! |
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I was looking at all these pictures and it reminded me of a story my grandpa told me.
He said back when he was my age, which was about 1946, he was walking on a bridge over the Danube in Romania, and he said he say a huge catfish the size of a man standing up washed up on the bank. I was wondering if the Silurus Glanis also are in the Danube around the Romanian country side. And also, how do you fish for them, using bobbers, lures or traditional methods for catching catfish here in the states such as chiken liver and stink bait? |
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The aim of this site is to share a passion, and not just to show the biggest, largest and hugest catfish.
But for those who are interested to see very BIG ONES we have some photos: YURI: 242cm/103Kg | 7.38ft/227lbs TONY: 244cm/88Kg | 7.44ft/194lbs XAVIER: albino 214cm/75Kg | 6.52ft/165lbs |
| ... this fish was caught (and released) in Italy (South of Europe) in the Po river. |
| So where was this Catfish Caught? Someone said Europe. What part of Europe? |
| I didn't keep it to eat. I practise Catch & Release. Greetings, Lucas |
| Thank you for sharing this photo. I probably wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. What an awesome catch. Good work and congratulations, guys! |
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I know catfish, and that's one heap big cat.
If the anglers kept him for eating, they had to have had a big job of skinning a big boy like that! Woohoo! |
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