AN ANGLER reeled in an enormous 9ft catfish after a gruelling 50-minute battle.
Jakub Vagner, 43, hauled within the epic catch simply south of Prague, within the Czech Republic – setting a brand new nationwide file.
4
4
The celeb angler was drifting previous a rocky overhang within the Vranov Reservoir, on August 4, when he noticed the enormous fish gliding beneath within the early morning mild.
He solid his custom-made rod in the direction of it and waited.
“Ten minutes handed and nothing occurred. Instantly, it turned and went straight into my entice,” Jakub mentioned.
What adopted was “the toughest battle I’ve ever had with a catfish within the Czech Republic”, he continued.
The fish put up such a battle that Jakub needed to name in a pal to assist him maintain onto the rod.
“After virtually 50 minutes, it was mendacity half-tired subsequent to my boat. I used to be shaking, fully accomplished,” the angler mentioned.
He launched the record-breaking fish again into the water after posing with it for pictures.
Jakub defined: “At 2.68 metres (8.8ft) in size, it’s 4 centimetres (1.6in) longer than the one I caught final yr.
“This is without doubt one of the largest catfish I’ve ever seen in Europe.”
Photos present the Fish Warrior TV host, aired on the Nationwide Geographic Channel, standing within the shallows with the big catfish.
The 8.8ft whopper was “not solely lengthy, but additionally brutally tall and broad… a ravishing, virtually flawless fish with the potential to develop even greater”, Jakub mentioned.
He added that catching huge fish is all about “morale, dedication and willpower” – and confused he by no means kills his catches, releasing them to allow them to continue to grow.
It comes after one other angler landed a monster 20-stone catfish in Italy following a 45-minute battle to reel it in.
Dramatic photographs present Benjamin Grunder, 37, wrestling with the catch of a lifetime on the banks of the River Po.
At first, he thought his hook had snagged a submerged tree, however the sheer weight revealed it was an enormous fish.
The German angler lastly hauled within the 8ft 8in Wels catfish – the most important freshwater species in Europe – estimating its weight at 20 stone.
That fish was additionally launched again into the water protected and sound.
4
