Fisherman Reeled In Nine-Foot, Massive Catfish

Jun 04, 2020 by apost team

On January 31st, 2017, fisherman Benjamin Gründer caught a massive catfish during a trip to River Po in Italy. The catfish was larger than the fisherman himself, and Gründer said back in December of 2016, he had located a massive fish via echo sounder but unfortunately never got a bite on his line. Thanks to Gründer's persistence, he finally got the chance to see the massive fish out of the water.

Benjamin Gründer knows personal records get broken because he did so himself. On a trip to the River Po in Italy, Benjamin hooked a large catfish. Okay, "large" is an understatement. The massive catfish was about nine feet in length and roughly 284 lbs. Photos of Benjamin and the catfish look like something made with CGI. The fish was far bigger than the man who reeled him to shore.

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Benjamin hooked the fish like we would any other one. The massive fish did seem a little different to him when he first started reeling. Benjamin assumed the hook grabbed onto a tree root. Likely, the tremendous weight made moving the fish difficult, and he thought he snagged his line on something immobile. Then, the "immobile" object started moving.

Surprising, the amount of time it took to reel the fish to the boat wasn't long. Within 45 minutes, the fish reached the boat. Benjamin and the fish launched into a photo op session. Thankfully, someone had a camera available. Who would believe the story without such an impressive photo?

So, why is this an unofficial record-breaking catch? Benjamin let the catfish go. No one weighed the fish or performed any official steps to claim a record. In a way, that is a good thing. The magnificent creature lives to fight another day.

Do you know anyone who loves to hear about incredible fishing stories? That friend would get a pleasant shock from learning about the monster catfish of Italy, so be sure to pass it on to them and let us know your thoughts!