For anglers in the UK, catching a freshwater fish that exceeds 100lbs is a challenging prospect , simply because so few fish are capable of reaching that size. For those determined to hit this milestone, catfish are often the primary target as they are one of the few species in UK waters capable of growing beyond the magical 100lb barrier. These powerful fish offer a fight like no other, and for many anglers, once they’ve experienced the power of a big moggy, they seldom want to catch anything else.
It would be fair to say Chris Ellis is a catfish fanatic. Such is his obsession with the species he is a part owner of Catfish Xtreme, a company that makes everything you could need to catch a big catfish for yourself. Despite his love for the species, and many of his team members catching huge catfish, he himself hadn't landed anything huge, however all this changed on a recent social session with friends.
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"Myself, Shannan and Vince organised a social for our team members at Oakwood Park Lakes in Norfolk. In my opinion it is one of the best places to fish in the UK if you want to have a chance of a really big fish," Chris explained.
"First night wasn’t too great for me, however there was plenty of fish being caught around the lake from all our team members. With fish over 60b landed it had been an unusually quiet evening for me," he added.
"The following afternoon was when my luck started to change. After hard work and keeping the bait going in on the same spot the persistence paid off, and I landed first fish of the session, a low 40 and I was glad to get the first fish in the net!"
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This wasn't the only action for Chris that evening as shortly after returning the 40lb cat, he was rewarded with an even bigger fish at 68lb, which was also a new PB, albeit a short lived one! Full of confidence, he reset his rod for the night ahead and with odd fish in the area, Chris was hopeful the action would continue and he may even get a chance at one of the lakes giants. Sure enough, a few hours after falling asleep, his alarm burst into life and upon getting to the rod, he knew this fish was in a different league.
"I just remember holding on as I was unable to stop the initial run. My only concern at the time was that the fish had made its way over the gravel bar out in the middle of the lake as I could feel my line grating on top of it," he recalled.
"Luckily for me, after some hairy moments, I managed to get it away from the bar and get it into the deeper water."
"After a long hard 20-minute battle with it I finally landed the fish, and when I peered into my net, I couldn’t believe my eyes what I had caught. I rushed to wake Vince and Nick up to help me with the fish as I knew I wouldn’t have be able to lift it out myself."
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With the fish resting safely in the net, Chris, along with the help of the other anglers, managed to get all the equipment in position to safely remove such a big fish from the water. After shuffling the beast into the sling, it soon became apparent he had finally achieved his goal of banking a 100lb catfish, with the scales settling at a monstrous 110lb 6oz.
"After returning the fish back into the lake Vince said to me, it was well worth getting out of bed to see that beast on the bank," he said.
"A shoutout to Vince and Nick for their help with the fish, when dealing with such large fish it is a necessity to have assistance from competent cat anglers."
"All the fish I had over the weekend were caught on Spicy Pepperoni and Orange pop up from Catfish Xtreme. Both rods on bottom baits and a pop up, fished with a semi fixed rig and a size 2 hook," Chris confirmed.
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