'World Record' catfish caught by Italian angler

An Italian fisherman caught a catfish that would have broken the world record for the largest ever to be caught - but lost out on the milestone after setting the monster fish free.

The gilled Goliath was caught by angler Alessandro Biancardi in the River Po at the start of June (2023) and measured 285cm, making it the largest ever to be caught.

In a blog post for his fishing team MADCAT, he wrote: "In silence I approached the first spot and after few casts a powerful bite arrived, the fish stood still some seconds before starting a very complicated fight, between strong currents and a lot of submerged obstacles."

"I calmly managed to fight what I felt to be a prehistoric fish. I followed it for 40 endless minutes. When it surfaced for the first time, I really realised that I hooked a monster, the adrenaline started pumping hard and the fear of losing it almost sent me into a panic, I was alone facing the biggest catfish I have ever seen in 23 years."

Biancardi then had to leap off his boat to bring the catch ashore before swimming to retrieve his boat and equipment, which had begun to float downriver. Alongside ten witnesses, an official measurement was carried out - and the size of the fish surpassed the current record holder, a catfish pulled from the same river by angler Attila Zsedely in 2010, by an incredible 40 cm.

However, Biancardi won't be given an official world record because he decided to release his catch back into the river rather than weigh it.

He writes: "I was very curious about the weight but I feared to stress the rare specimen too much so I decided to safely release it, hoping it could give another angler the same joy he gave to me."

This fish will, however, qualify for the International Game Fish Association's catch-and-release length record, if confirmed by the IGFA.