Reports of huge catfish have spiked in recent weeks, with numerous fish over the 100lb barrier being banked. It would appear if you want to catch one of the biggest freshwater fish in the UK, now might be the best time to get out and try and land one for yourself!
Two anglers who have recently battled these giants are Luke Mason and Dean Aldridge, both of whom banked monstrous catfish from different venues.
Dean was targeting catfish at Crow Green Fishery near Brentwood, a venue known for producing numerous personal bests for anglers over the years. His session was no different, as he re-captured a moggy he first caught in 2016—only this time, it was much larger, weighing in at 116lb!
"I was lucky enough to catch a fish called Bomber, which I first landed back in 2016 at 99lb. This time around, he weighed 116lb," Dean told us.
"The fish fell to a single 22mm Cat Spice pellet and a 1/3 of a Cat Spice pop-up from Catfish Bait UK, fished over their Darkside spod mix."
"This is the third-largest of six cats over 100lb that reside in Crow Green Fishery, so it's well worth a visit if you want to test yourself against a big cat," he added.
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Luke Mason and his 11-year-old son, Frank, were fishing at a lake in Essex when they managed to bank the biggest catfish in the lake, known as 'Thor.' The massive fish weighed 128lbs and took the pair over two hours to finally land!
"Frank and I were really excited to get down to the venue. It's a place I've fished before, but I was especially looking forward to having Frank with me this time, as he just loves fishing," Luke told us.
"We knew the lake contained this fish because my brother-in-law caught it when we were fishing together about a year ago, but we never expected to catch it again," he added.
The father-son duo were fishing with simple rigs, using pellets and boilies that had been successful in the past. Remaining patient, they eventually got the bite they had been waiting for and hooked the huge catfish.
"The fight alternated between Frank and me, with the overall fight lasting two hours. It's clear to see why the fish has earned the nickname 'Thor,'" Luke explained.
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Karol Vapno was another angler who went head-to-head with a massive catfish, this time at St. Johns Lake at Linear Fisheries in Oxford. Determined to succeed after losing a few on his previous session due to his carp tackle not being up to the challenge, Karol returned specifically to target the enormous fish he'd been hooking.
"I spodded heavily and started with a pop-up rig using a white Scent From Hell bait. On the first night, I managed to land a 70+ pounder, followed by two smaller fish the next morning," he informed us.
"Around midnight, I had a ripping take, but unfortunately, when I got to the rod, there was nothing there. So, I rigged up fresh baits and got it back on the spot," he recounted.
'Then, at around 3am., I had a slow drop-back, concerned it might be a bream I didn't rush to the rod, but when I lifted into the fish, all hell broke loose.'
"After 30-40 minutes of what I can only describe as pure hell, with the fish weeding me up several times and wiping out both of my other rods, we finally managed to net the beast."
Karol weighed the fish on two sets of scales, both of which maxed out at 100lb, but the fish easily bottomed them out. He'll never know exactly how big the fish was, as he wanted to return it to the water quickly due to the warm weather. However, he estimated its weight to be over 130lb—could it have even been a potential British record?
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