Whilst becoming increasingly more common in British lakes, catfish are a rare species to catch in our river systems - so you can imagine the shock Luke Gilman had when he hooked into a huge 67lb 3oz monster on a recent session on the River Trent.
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The 15-year-old was actually targeting the stocks of zander the Midlands river is known for when the huge and powerful fish picked up his roach deadbait.
"I have heard a few stories about the catfish in the Trent but had never seen one," he told us.
"I finally got to experience the incredible power of one of these fish."
Using a 2lb Cadence Barbel rod, a Shimano Baitrunner reel and a 16lb Fox Exocet mainline, Luke received only a few twitches on the end of the rod before he decided to strike into it.
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"I thought I was snagged, but then it slowly started to move," he said.
"Once it really went all I could do was let it.
"It went with the flow and then against it, putting a really good bend in the rod.
"I thought I'd lost it more than once because the line went totally slack before ripping off again."
Some 40 minutes after hooking the fish, Luke netted one of the biggest-ever river catfish caught in the UK.
"It was quite long with a really deep body - a fish I will never forget!"
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