In the week or so since British angler Chris Grimmer landed a 194-pound albino catfish while on holiday in Spain, his home country newspapers have had fun with the story.
The Express, for example, topped its write-up with this headline: "Better Get More Chips, Love... "
The eight-foot-long behemoth, a wels catfish pulled from the River Ebro after a 20-minute struggle, is said by Catmasters Tours to be the heaviest albino catfish ever caught on rod and reel.
The Sun quotes Grimmer as saying, "It was like trying to reel in a bus. I could barely walk afterwards, but it was worth it."
The cream-colored beast, which was set free after it was weighed, was two pounds heavier than the previous record, caught and released last year in the same stretch of river by Sheila Penfold, who is blind.
Colin Bunn, a spokesman for Catmasters, said in an interview that Grimmer's catfish was thought at first to be the same fish, "but when we checked the photos it was a different fish."
Grimmer told the Express: "It took my reel and stripped it and it was then that I knew it was a big one. My mate went into the water to help lift it out. I was jumping down the bank when I realized it was a record."
The International Game Fish Assn. does not keep track of "albino" catfish records, but the IGFA lists the all-tackle record for wels catfish as a 297-pound, 9-ounce specimen caught last year in Italy's River Po.
Of the wels catfish, the IGFA website states that there are "tales of it attacking and drowning dogs and even children, but these are based on hearsay, rather than observation."
Bunn, who has had clients from 69 countries ply the Ebro for giant catfish, could not recall any such incident.
-- Image showing Chris Grimmer (left) and buddies posing with the albino catfish is courtesy of Catmasters Tours
Not to insult fishing fanatics, but that is one disgusting looking fish, and looks as though it's been dead for years.
Posted by: mooremediaone | Aug 09, 2011 at 10:22 AM