A claim has been submitted for a new world record catfish after an Italian angler landed an enormous 285cm giant fish from Italy's River Po.
MADCAT and Savage Gear, who back captor Alessandro Biancardi broke the news on their social pages, after he contacted them with the report of the biggest fish he'd ever caught in 23 years of intense catfish angling.
Incredibly, the fish put up a battle that lasted over 40-minutes, with Alessandro alone in his boat the whole time since hooking the huge predator on a 40g Savage Gear Cannibal Shad.
"I tried gloving its mouth 2-3 times, but it was too strong," he said.
"I decided to go in shallow water to try and land it from the shore."
Using a MADCAT 2.70m Spinning rod and a strong prototype braid, the monster was eventually tamed.
In the chaos of the capture, with adrenaline pumping, Alessandro forgot to anchor his boat, which began drifting away in the current, forcing him a quick swim to recover it.
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The fish was measured in the presence of 10 witnesses, with all documentation sent to the IGFAfor a record claim.
"I was very curious about the weight but feared to stress that rare specimen too much more," Alessandro said.
It's the second time a catfish of record proportions has been landed from Italy's longest river this year, what else might this special waterway hold?
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