What a cat-ch! Eight-foot fish weighing a whopping 150lbs reeled in by husband-wife duo... and it's likely to beat the UK record
A husband and wife fishing team have caught a record-breaking catfish that weighed a staggering 150lbs.
It took Shaun and Chloe Ing 90 minutes to reel in the eight-foot long fish from Chigborough Fisheries, in Essex, and two friends to lift it from the water.
Upon weighing the enormous marine animal, it was found to have been seven pounds heavier than the existing British record, a 143lb catfish caught in Essex in 2024.
Wels catfish, the type most commonly found in Europe, are generally 3.9ft-5.2ft in length.
The couple said they had just ordered a Chinese takeaway that had arrived as the fish bit the bait, which ended up being ruined in the scuffle.
Shaun said the monster fish was 'unstoppable' after it took his bait.
'We got the bite on the fish around 7.50pm just as the delivery driver for our Chinese arrived. The reel on the rod almost set on fire, it was going so fast. It was absolute panic stations.
'It was pitch black and from there it was an hour-and-a-half of absolute hell. I put the rod between my legs for support and by the time I was finished my legs were just black from bruises.
It took Shaun (pictured, left) and his wife 90 minutes to reel in the eight-foot long fish from Chigborough Fisheries, in Essex, and two friends to lift it from the water
The couple said they had just ordered a Chinese takeaway that had arrived as the fish bit the bait, which ended up being ruined in the scuffle
'At one point I gave the line to Chloe and she was almost taken off her feet by the sheer force of it.
'It was like a Jaws moment when we saw the fish for the first time. The catfish was easily eight feet long, wider than me and when we put it on the scales it was bang on 150 pounds.
'It was so big it broke everything that it touched. It even broke the hook on the weighing tripod. It was just an absolute joke of a beast.
'By the time we recovered and settled down to eat the Chinese, it was absolutely ruined. But we still ate it.
'At the end of the day we would love to have the record, especially for a fish of that size. I don't think this will be beaten for some time.'
The couple are now waiting for the British Record Fish Committee to verify their claim on the record.
While they caught a massive fish, it pales in comparison to the world record for a caught catfish, which goes to the 9.4ft-long beast weighing 280lbs caught by Italian angler Alessandro Biancardi in the River Po, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.
And in 2009, a British schoolgirl was able to catch a 9ft-long catfish that weighed 191lbs.
Jessica Wanstall, from Kent, hooked the fish while fishing with her father in Spain's Ebro rover.
She said in 2009, at the time of her catch: 'I didn't realise just how big it was until I saw the photos afterwards. I look tiny next to it.
'My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn't feel small when I picked up the rod.
'It was really hard work pulling it in and my arms turned to jelly. My dad helped lift it onto the bank and I stood back and just laughed when I saw it. It was massive.'
