When it comes to modern lure fishing in the UK, we often think of methods like dropshotting or casting plugs for pike, with the occasional monster being tempted. Chris Bury has proven that you can land even the biggest fish on lures, as he banked this truly giant 120lb catfish—the biggest coarse fish to our knowledge ever caught using a lure in the UK.
Arriving at the renowned catfish venue Houchins in Essex, Chris, who is the team manager for Catfish Pro, decided to try out some new weedless lures he had brought with him in an attempt to reduce the possibility of catfish being foul-hooked. This can happen with more traditional lures due to the docile nature of catfish during the winter. It was an experiment that would pay off in fine style, as the massive moggy was only his second fish ever using one.
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"I had been chatting to Tony Wignall, the owner of Houchins, about lures, and we had discussed using the weedless versions available—a single hook masked by the body—as a solution to foul-hooked catfish," Chris explained.
"After a good few casts, I had six takes on the lures, landing a small cat. While there was no doubting that catfish find them attractive, the hook arrangement didn’t seem to be reactive enough to hook them."
Due to the number of hits Chris was getting on the lures, he decided to give them a few more casts, leading to the final phrase that most anglers live by: having one last cast. It was this cast that was met with solid resistance, changing his season completely.
"I thought I’d hooked the bottom—that is, until the bottom started powering away from me," he recounted.
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"What followed was a quite ridiculous 30-minute battle, with the fish coming into the edge before taking off to the other side of the lake three times. The power was unbelievable."
"The fish was so strong and difficult to turn that I actually thought the weedless lures had failed and I’d hooked a big fish in the tail."
"Thankfully, I was wrong, as when the fish finally surfaced, my lure was inside its massive gob."
With the fish tamed, Chris got his gloved hand in its mouth and managed to slide the fish onto a mat and up onto the bank, where it could be unhooked and weighed. After a monumental effort to get the fish onto the scales, they bounced between 121lb and 119lb before settling on 120lb, obliterating the 62lb PB he had set recently!
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"Thank God for all those gym sessions, or I would have been screwed," Chris joked.
"Hooked perfectly in the mouth, the fish known as Donkey is, I believe, the new Houchins Catlake 1 record, as well as being my personal UK PB and the biggest catfish ever landed on a lure in the UK. You really cannot knock that for December!"
"A new method to prevent foul hooking, a lake record, PB, and UK record for a lure-caught catfish—anyone will explain why I’m on the bubbles this evening. Buzzing is an understatement!!!"
"I would like to say a massive thanks to the Catfish Conservation Group (CCG) for all their work in protecting the species. I am a proud member and will actually be giving a talk at their AGM about lure fishing for catfish in March," he concluded.
If you would like more information about CCG, you can find out more here: www.catfishconservationgroup.co.uk
