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A British angler has caught the biggest Mekong catfish ever landed on rod and line in the shape of this amazing 260lb Mekong catfish.
Retired Royal Navy commander Martin Kent, who runs a charter fishing boat out of Tenby in Wales, latched into the giant at Gillhams Fishing Resort in Krabi, Southern Thailand using a boilie hook bait on a size 1/0 Gold Label Tackle Gillhams Penetrator hook.
That was the start of an hour-long battle using a Penn reel and 80lb braid and a Kryston Ton-Up braided hook link.
The exhausted angler eventually hauled in the fish in front of 12 witnesses when it was weighed on certified scales. It measured 87 inches from its nose to the tip of its tail, with a 46-inch girth.
The Mekong takes its name from the 4,800 mile long river that runs from the Yunnan province of China to Vietnam. It is thought to be the biggest catfish in the world and has been recorded by commercial fisherman at weights to over 600lb.
It’s the third time the resort at Krabi, Southern Thailand has set a new record for the Mekong. Rob Maylin set a new mark in May 2008 with a fish of 184lb. That was beaten by Joe Ball in December 2009 with a catfish of 191lb.
Gillhams is an anglers’ paradise with 44 species of exotic, sporting fish in its lake, including six running over 100lb. The top four are arapaima to 400lb, Mekong catfish to 260lb, Siamese Carp to 170lb, and Freshwater Stingray to over 200lb. They claim to have at least 16 species of fish that would break existing IGFA world records.
The biggest catfish ever landed on rod and line is thought to be an Amazonian Paraiba estimated at around 400lb, caught by globetrotting ‘extreme angling’ fanatic Jakub Wagner during his Amazon Quest TV series, which is available to view on OnlineFishing.tv .
WATCH JAKUB WAGNERS AMAZON QUEST
http://www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com
http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/giant-catfish
