Amateur angler lands monster 143lb catfish thought to be largest ever fish caught on rod in the UK

The dustman said he had started fishing in Chigborough Lakes nature reserve and had not had any success for the entire day on April 27.

But at 10.30pm, soon after changing his bait, the 34-year-old said he had his first nibble. Just under an hour later the amateur angler was weighing his catch.

The dustman started fishing in 2017 and spoke of his joy at the catch.

Darren told The Telegraph: “I’d just changed my bait after a long day of catching nothing and it was raining quite a bit, which puts pressure on the water so the fish come up to the surface. My friends started panicking as it was clearly a big fish and they were telling me how I should pull it out.

"I did it how I wanted to, and about 50 mins later I pulled that huge catfish out of the water. I think this is one of the biggest fish ever caught in the UK. If I get the record that would be nice.

"I’m over the moon, I can’t stop talking about it, you never think you will catch something like that. And that is the joy of fishing, I guess I was just in the right place at the right time."

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Reitz said he picked up fishing after being attacked in a nightclub in Southend-on-sea, Essex, in 2017. He took up the hobby, alongside motocross, after being the victim of an unprovoked assault.

After weighing the fish, Reitz released it into a separate lake and the fishery bailiff paid him £143 in cash as the angling club is looking to remove catfish from the lake he was fishing in.

He said: "The bailiff paid me one pound for every pound of weight, so I came away with £143 in cash.

"You expect to pay to go fishing, not to get paid. I’m hoping to go back next weekend and hopefully I’ll get another."

The 143lb weight of the catfish caught by Reitz is thought to be both the biggest catfish caught in Britain and officially the biggest of any fish caught on a rod in freshwater.

Secretary to the British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) Nick Simmonds, said the record for catfish was set in 2000 at 62lb.

However, the record was stopped to discourage the illegal importation of large catfish.

On November 9 last year, the BRFC decided to reopen the listing for claims, with 130lb set as the benchmark. Simmonds said: “If the captor of the fish wants to make a claim, the BRFC will consider it.”