Nateraz Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Went on my annual trip to Europe this year and as usual I was looking forward to fish for these large catfish again. Last year I only managed to catch two fish, one about 1 meter long and the other 1.95 meters long. Both still very far away from the trophy length and size of 250cm. At the start of my trip this year I jokingly said that my goal was to catch a catfish measuring in excess of 250cm. Even most of the local fisherman don’t have a catfish personal best exceeding 250cm. For the first part of my trip I was limited to only fishing this small body of water with very few catfish in it. Although I got up in the early hours multiple days I was unfortunate and ended up getting zero hits and only spooked one away from the bank. Luckily in the next week me and my local friend were a level to hit one of the bigger river systems and had a pretty good day, me and 3 other friends ended up catching 16 in one day, the biggest ones were just shy of 2 meters. In the second week of the trip my family had rented a house a few hours away right beside one of the best rivers in France. So of course I was going to go to the river every chance I got. This ended up being some of the best fishing of my life. The first morning I got up at 3am and drove about 40 minutes to the spot, it’s a deep pool with lots of current I chose to use a big 10” paddle tail swimbait with a 40gram jighead due to the fact it was still dark out and wanted something with a lot of thump. I ended up catching a catfish 2 meters long within 5 casts. After releasing that fish I caught another catfish this one turned out to be 2m05cm. Still a long way from the length I wanted but I was beyond stoked with those two fish that morning. The next morning i wake up at 3am again, this time i caught a lot more fish at the spot but they were all small. I decided i would make my last cast and than go home as the bite was dying, with the last 10 feet of line out i get thumped hard. I swing and set the hook and this fish rips out into the middle of the fast current. I fight the fish to shore and get a hold of it. I bring it to the bank for pictures and measure it. 2m10cm, getting bigger, i let the fish go and head home. The next day i decide to sleep in to go do some sight seeing with the family. I end u p deciding to go out that evening. I get to the spot around 8pm and fish for a few hours with only one bite, i was thinking that maybe i had hit the spot too hard the past few days and i should let it rest so i can come back tomorrow morning for my last day there. I make one last cast and yet again with 10 feet of line out i get the biggest hit i have ever gotten on a lure. I set the hook and this fish rips 75-80 yards of line out on a basically almost locked down Calcutta 400TE. Now i knew this one was giant, i fought the fish for about 45 minutes and i finally lay eyes on this fish. It is massive and easily the biggest freshwater fish i have caught on a lure. I bring it to shore and take the best pictures i can as it is almost pitch black out and i am by myself. I go looking through my bag for my tape measure and realize i left it at home that day after re organizing. So I cut a piece of fishing line and measure the fish with it than cut it and save that for when i get home. Once i get home i measure the line, the tape measure reads 2m56cm! I was blown away and overjoyed. Since watching river monsters as a kid i had always been captivated by wels catfish and their fearlessness of basically anything. I still have 2 more days of fishing left on this trip and will add pictures in the comments below if i get anything else noteworthy. basssavage24/7, Doomlurker, Cutty and 14 others 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsbadbassin89 Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Insane. That would make me never want to fight smaller fish again. CaliBassin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtrwsel Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 I know you are beyond stoked. Well done. Those things are crazy huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKNNH Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Beautiful work on those truly giant fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradycodd Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Insanely jealous. Again. It's up there on the bucket list. Epic dude, strong work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthefisherman Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Gee those are BEASTS!!! And I thought my 30" channel cat fought hard lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkmeatballs Posted July 12, 2019 Report Share Posted July 12, 2019 Look at the size of those things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliBassin Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 Damn! That’s awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliBassin Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 10 hours ago, carlsbadbassin89 said: Insane. That would make me never want to fight smaller fish again. Exactly what I was thinking. Bass would just seem lame after catching something of that size carlsbadbassin89 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbass Posted July 13, 2019 Report Share Posted July 13, 2019 That is awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreaster603 Posted July 15, 2019 Report Share Posted July 15, 2019 thats incredible man I didnt realize people targeted them with artificials like that. Congrats on some great fish! CaliBassin and GreenPig 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishDr Posted July 18, 2019 Report Share Posted July 18, 2019 Simply awesome! Congratulations on some amazing fish and your new PB! I love throwing swimbaits for wels catfish and it sounds like you've found just the spot. We might need to talk...I'm headed to France next summer for work and if I can get in some catfish swimbait sessions, it will make it an epic trip. Nateraz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassing305 Posted July 26, 2019 Report Share Posted July 26, 2019 Nice catches and congratulations on your new personal best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenPig Posted September 12, 2019 Report Share Posted September 12, 2019 What does a replica mount for a 2m56cm Wels catfish gonna set you back? Great fish! I seriously would've liked to witness your battle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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