Italian Fisherman Reels in Record-Setting Nine-Foot Catfish

An Italian fisherman unexpectedly set a new record thanks a huge recent catch. On May 25, Alessandro Biancardi was out on his boat on the Po River in northern Italy when he felt a strong pull on his lure. After an Old Man and the Sea-esque struggle, he reeled in a massive catfish measuring over nine feet long. 

Biancardi, a professional fisherman with MADCAT, recounted the experience on his team's website. "I calmly managed to fight what I felt to be a prehistoric fish," he recalled. "I followed it for 40 endless minutes. When it surfaced for the first time, I really realized that I hooked a monster." He added that his "adrenaline started pumping hard" and he began to panic as he almost lost his once-in-a-lifetime catch. To get better leverage, he moved to the shore and managed to reel in the aquatic behemoth after a few tries. 

The gargantuan animal clocked in at 285 centimeters (approximately 9 feet, 4 inches), making it the largest catfish ever caught in Europe. MADCAT sent documentation of the catch to the International Game Fish Association. Earlier this year, two German fishermen set an IFGA record with a catfish of their own, coincidentally found in the same river. Biancardi's discovery is 1.5 inches longer. 

Biancardi proudly declared that his find is possibly a new Guinness World Record. While it may be an eye-popping size, the official Guinness World Record for the largest exclusively freshwater fish ever caught belongs to a Mekong catfish spotted in northern Thailand in 2005, which measured 300 centimeters. 

After taking pictures and videos of the primordial-looking creature, Biancardi released it back into its natural habitat. It would have made for some good Italian dinners, but maybe it was better to leave the gentle giant in peace.