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95lb Catfish Tops Amazing Haul For Tony Price!
95lb Catfish Tops Amazing Haul - Words & Pictures Tony Price
Firstly I would say I am only a pleasure angler, I don’t fish during the winter months because of the weather and other commitments. I usually start fishing from May onwards finishing in September.
I have fished several day ticket waters and belonged to some clubs but was looking for something secure and quiet with some nice fishing. So in 2011 I joined Wintons Fishery in West Sussex. I have never caught any Catfish before and just went along to try and catch anything I could.
On my first trip I managed to catch several nice Carp and then a Catfish. I have never had a fish on the end of my line that fought so hard and so violently before. This immediately got me hooked on trying to fish specifically for Catfish. The other good thing I noticed was once on the bank the Catfish tend to be very placid and not beat you up as some big Carp can do. The main problem I found was the inadequacy of my tackle. This meant that on more than one occasion I would be snapped off during the fight. I upgraded my line from 14lb to 20lb and this partly cured the problem although I did notice that once you had caught two or three big Catfish the line became damaged and would snap easily.
Up until my first trip this year the best Catfish I had caught was 59lb. The Bailiff had told me that there was bigger fish that that in the lake but no body could land it because of the snags and several islands that the fish could take you round then snap you off. Talking to a friend of mine through the winter he recommended I try some Stren Fishing Line which I source some 30lb brute strength which I loaded my big baitrunner reels with for my first visit this year.
I had booked in for three days and three nights at Wintons Fishery. Setting up in the rain I did not feel very confident but the first cast produced a 16lb Catfish so things were looking up.
Having got sorted out and completely set up, the rod went off again this time producing a 43½lb Catfish. This went on all through the first day with a few takes the first night.
The second day things had quietened down a bit and I was catching the occasional fish using Boilies.
Later that afternoon I struck into a fish that set off at a blinding pace taking line despite having the clutch on the real tightened down fairly well.
I managed eventually to stop the run by feathering the spool with my finger. I then gained a few turns of line before the fish gave an almighty jerk pulling me into the edge of the lake where I got two wet feet!
I could tell from the sheer power of this fish that it was a good size. This fight carried on with me trying my utmost to stop it from going round the island or the other way across the lake into the snags. I managed to get the fish to within about ten yards of the landing net when my other rod roared off. I picked this rod up with my other hand felt there was a fish on it and engaged the bait runner and laid the rod down on the bank the fish took some line then stopped so I presumed it had managed to shed the hook I concentrated on getting the larger Catfish into the landing net.
It then became apparent how large this fish was. As my scales only go to 60lbs I phoned the office at Wintons to see if they had a larger set and if they would like some pictures of this big Catfish. The Bailiff Stuart brought some scales round.
In the meantime I wound up my second rod and found there was still a fish attached after a short fight I netted a nice 29lb Common Carp. When Stuart arrived I don’t think he could believe his eyes and took some pictures of me with the Carp first then we lifted out the Catfish, tucked it into the weight sling as best we could and the scales went round to 95lbs!
We then took some photographs and released this fish back into the lake.
This is by far the biggest fish I have ever caught and the hardest fighting. At the end of the three days and three nights I had had an absolutely fantastic session landing 14 Catfish from 1½ lb to 95lb which include a 58lb, 48½ lb 43½ lb two Carp a 13½lb Mirror and a 29lb Common and one Eel which weighed 4lb.
I buy most of my tackle and bait from Angling Direct at Sittingbourne because the Manager Richard is always helpful and will go out of his way to get in any items that he does not hold in stock.
Tony Price
