A fisherman in Italy recently reeled in a massive wels catfish that measured over 9-feet long. This could potentially set a new world record if approved by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). Alessandro Biancardi, the angler who caught the fish, was fishing in the Po River when he hooked the giant catfish after an hour-long battle.
The Po River is Italy’s longest river and is known for its large population of wels catfish. The species can grow to be quite large and are known to put up a good fight when hooked. Biancardi had been fishing for several hours before he finally hooked this giant fish. He said that it took him 43 minutes to reel it in, which is an incredibly long time for any angler to fight a fish.
When asked about his catch, Biancardi said that he was surprised at how big it was and that it was definitely one of the biggest catches of his life. He also noted that this particular species of catfish can live up to 50 years old and weigh up to 300 pounds, so this 9-footer could have been quite old.
If approved by the IGFA, this catch would set a new world record for wels catfish. The current record stands at 8 feet 4 inches and was caught in Germany back in 2008. It’s not yet clear if Biancardi’s catch will be accepted as a world record or not but either way it’s certainly an impressive feat!
This isn’t the first time that someone has caught a massive catfish from the Po River either. In 2018, another angler caught a 200-pound monster from the same river after an hour-long battle with it. While these catches are certainly impressive, they pale in comparison to some other records around the world such as Mark Wilkerson’s 123 pound flathead catfish from Mississippi or Ditch Ballard’s 242 pound blue catfish from Virginia.
No matter what happens with Biancardi’s potential world record catch, one thing is certain: catching such a huge fish is no easy task! It takes skill and patience to land something like this and we should all give Alessandro Biancardi credit for his impressive feat
