| Santee Cooper Cats - Catfish USA presents The World Record Catfish Records Department |
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| World Record - Freshwater Catfish Species: Mekong Catfish Weight: 646 lbs. Length: just under 9 feet Girth: unknown Angler: Caught at: Mekong River at Tailand, China Bait/Lure: Method: Netted Record Date: May 2005 |
| This World Record Mekong Catfish was caught in a remote part of Northern Thailand. When wildlife officials caught wind of the catch they urged the villagers to release the adult male so that it could spawn, but it later died and was eaten, the group said. They did not say when the massive fish was caught. The fish was the heaviest recorded since Thai officials started tracking the species in 1981 and may be the largest freshwater fish ever discovered The Mekong giant catfish which shares the title of largest freshwater fish with a close relative, the dog-eating catfish was listed as critically endangered in 2003 after research showed its numbers had fallen by at least 80 percent over the past 13 years. |
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| World Record - Flathead Catfish (All Tackle) Weight: 123 lbs. - 9 oz. Length: Girth: Angler: Ken Paulin Caught at: Elk City Reservoir Bait/Lure: Method: Zebco 33 with 12 lb. test Record Date: May 14, 1998 |
| World Record - Bullhead Catfish (All Tackle) Weight: 8 lbs. - 15 oz. Length: Girth: Angler: Caught at: Bait/Lure: Method: Record Date: Source: National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame - 2003 Edition |
| World Record - White Catfish (All Tackle) Weight: 21 lbs. - 8 oz. Length: Girth: Angler: Caught at: Bait/Lure: Method: Record Date: Source: Intl. Game Fish Assoc World Record Game Fishes - 2003 Edition |
| Spain's Record catfish 211 pounds Duncan Rooke (left) and Stephen Buss heft a record-breaking catfish in the River Ebro, near Barcelona, Spain. the photo of the giant fish was released Monday. The men caught the monster, which measured 7 feet 7 inches, on July 6. The female fish is the biggest freshwater catch ever made by a British angler and nearly pulled 32-year-old gas engineer Rooke back into the river once he had hold of her. After weighing the fish and burping her to get rid of the air in her stomach she was released. All weekend we were treated to guys getting rock-star treatment for catching a bunch of one-pound bass. Duncan Rooke was looking to celebrate after his catch, too. But as the photo shows, Rooke, left, had his hands full at the time -- with a 211-pound catfish, a record catch for a British angler. He and three other Britons landed the 7-foot-7 female on the River Ebro near Barcelona, Spain. Rooke, a 30-year-old gas engineer from Surrey, said his rod almost broke in two as the fish took his bait of halibut pellets. Trip organizer Stephen Buss, pictured behind Rooke, told the Daily Mail of London: "Two of us nearly had a hernia lifting her up the bank, and we were shattered afterwards, but we still had the energy to cheer and dance around her." After posing for pictures with the catfish, the largest ever caught in Spain, they put it back into the water. The European record for the biggest freshwater fish is 294 pounds -- a catfish caught in the River Po in Italy. The world's largest, a Mekong Giant catfish, was caught a few weeks ago by commercial net fishermen in Thailand. It weighed 646 pounds, roughly two Steelers linemen. |
| Spain's Record catfish 226 pounds While America was enjoying its annual turkey feast, an English school caretaker Carl Smith nearly drowned whille landing a feast of his own; a European record 226 lb. catfish in Spain. It took two freinds to keep Carl from being dragged into the River Ebro. The battle to land the giant fish, which beat the European record by 2lb, took the school caretaker from Owestry 35 minutes. "The force of the tug practically sent me crashing to the ground," Smith said. "It's mouth, with rows of sharp teeth, made it look like a man-eating shark." The catfish, a European wels, was then weighed, measured and held for a photograph — just in case anyone questioned this fisherman’s tale. “We christened him Jaws and released him back in the water,” said Mr Smith, pictured holding the tail. European wels catfish are reputed to eat anything that can fit into their huge mouths. The previous European record was 224 lbs. |
| 2nd Previous Record Spain Catfish |
| Previous Record Spain Catfish 226 lbs. |
| World Record I.G.F.A. Catfish (Line Class Record) Species: Mekong Catfish Weight: 167 lbs. - 8 oz. Length: unknown Girth: unknown Angler: Nopphong Phromcham Caught at: Bangkok in Tailand, China Bait/Lure: Method: Record Date: February 5, 2007 |
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| Spain's Record catfish 226 pounds The fish was over 8 feet long, "fought like a bull" and is one of the biggest specimens ever caught in Europe. Mr Melhuish, a 61-year-old coroner's officer, spent half an hour reeling in the 226lbs catch. By the time the fish was landed, it was nearly midnight so it was tethered in the river until morning when it could be weighed and photographed. Alan, from Weston-Super-Mare, in Somerset, was spending a week fishing the River Ebro near Barcelona. He was with his son-in-law Steve Hutter, 35, and his friend Billy Brown, 35, both sergeants in the RAF. When he caught the fish, using pellets of dried halibut as bait, it needed all three men to hold it. Mr Melhuish said: "I went on a week's trip there last year but didn't catch much, but I booked another week this year. "It was almost on the last day when I hooked the big one. I was standing on a pontoon and I could tell it was big. "It ripped the line and must have raced 40 metres up the river. I could tell it was a decent size. "I had to use all my strength to stop myself from being pulled off the pontoon into the river. "When I got it into the shallows my son-in-law went down to have a look and he told me it was massive. "There are three weights of catfish that get anglers excited, 100lbs, 150lbs, and then the magical 200lbs mark. "When the scales went past the 200 mark and up to 226lbs I knew it was the fish of a lifetime." |
| Previous WORLD RECORD Catfish Record Holders |
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| Blue Catfish (Virginia State Record - World Record) Weight: 143 lbs. - 13 oz. Length: 57 inches Girth: 43.5 inches Angler: Nick Anderson Caught at: Goat Island area of John H Kerr Reservoir near the confluence of the Dan and Roanoke Rivers Bait/Lure: (Anderson has not publicly discussed his secret bait but "chicken breast" was listed on the VA record application) Method: Ugly Stick - Shimano Reel with 30 # test Record Date: June 18, 2011 |
| The previous World Records are shown at the bottom of this page. |
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| "My cork went down and I set the hook and pulled that thing up through the moss and I said, 'That has to be a bullhead.' I got to looking at him and I said 'That's a bullhead alright.'" The fish is a new Missouri record and is larger than the current records recognized by the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. |
| World record Yellow Bulhead Catfish (Pole and Line) Weight: 6 lbs. - 6 oz. Angler: John Irvin Caught at: Old Drexel Lake Bait/Lure: Minnows & Cork Method: Spincasting reel- 6lb. test line Record Date: May 27, 2006 |
Anderson was fishing with his Father and Brother when he hooked this fish. It was weighed at Mecklenberg Supply Inc, which was one of few places with a scale large enough to weigh. It took 45 minutes to reel it in. |
| World Record - Catfish (All Tackle) Weight: 260 lbs. Length: 7 feet Girth: Angler: Martin David Kent Caught at: Kradi, Thailand Bait/Lure: Method: Record Date: June 8, 2011 Intl. Game Fish Assoc. |
