A fisherman has opened up about his recent adventure during which he caught a massive catfish on the line.
37-year-old Ditch Ballard from Britain was fishing for common carp from the shore at River Ebro in Spain when a “monster” catfish took the bait.
As the angler explained, he then fought the giant catch for one hour before finally managing to reel it in only to find out that the catfish weighed an astounding 222 pounds and measured nine feet long.
“With an air temperature of 26°F the wind chill actually made it feel unbearable. I was carp fishing, but the bend in the little 10ft rod suggested I was likely attached to a catfish,” the fisherman recalled.
“The line was uncontrollably ripping off the reel so I untied my boat and set sail, without pausing to grab my hat or my shoes from the bivvy.
“The next hour was simply painful; as my muscles fatigued and the adrenaline wore off my body temperature began to crash, and I found myself crouched in the bottom of the boat trying to hold on whilst shivering uncontrollably.”
After a one-hour struggle, Ballard finally noticed the giant catfish appear near his boat. He also realized that the powerful swimmer towed his boat more than half a mile from his starting location.
“I needed this battle to be over one way or another, so I just pulled with all I had left in me,” he continued.
“Each time the fish ran I nearly lost a digit, as by this time my hands were so cold they weren’t really doing what my brain was telling them. If the line had snapped at that moment I would have gone overboard.”
The “biggest battle” of Ballard’s fishing career came to an end after he grabbed the catfish by its jaw and pulled it up to the shore.
After posing for photos with his biggest catch ever, Ditch released the catfish back into the water to dominate the river.
He also found out that the fish he had caught was just 28 pounds below the largest catfish ever caught in River Ebro.
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