Sean Kinnear, 27, was amazed when he felt a fierce tug on his fishing line and pulled in the 9ft monster. He waged a 15-minute battle to land the beast, which hits the scales at an incredible 233lb 6oz.
It is the third largest catfish ever caught in the world.
Sean said: “As the fish surfaced we were all in shock as it was so big. It was really hard trying to reel it in as it was so heavy and the rod was bending. It came close to breaking me, but I managed to pull it in, although it took four of us to get it on to the shore.”
The big catch came after a 12 hour day of fishing. Sean added: “We had been fishing all day and it was just starting to get dark so I thought I’d have one last try.
“The fish bit very hard and I managed to land it within 15 minutes.”
The mighty fish was loaded on to a sling and weighed before it was returned to the river.
Sean, who has a photo of his big catch on his wall, revealed: “I was totally over the moon and it’s a fishing holiday I’ll never forget.
“I might have to change species now to have more of a challenge and move on to sturgeon which can go up to 1000lb.”
Wells Catfish are the largest freshwater fish in Europe and eat anything they come across, including swans. The largest ever caught weighed 246lb.
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