Who mentioned you’ll be able to’t catch massive catfish when it’s chilly out? Effectively, Ditch Ballard simply caught an absolute monster within the lifeless of winter. In response to a Fb submit, Ballard was fishing for carp on the Ebro River in Spain in January, when a large took his bait and rapidly began “ripping” line off his reel.
“The following hour was merely painful,” wrote Ballard. “As my muscular tissues fatigued and the adrenaline wore off, my physique temp started to crash, and I discovered myself crouched within the backside of the boat making an attempt to carry on whereas shivering uncontrollably.”
And Ballard wasn’t shivering out of pleasure. He says that it was round 27 levels Fahrenheit—and windy. At one level in the course of the struggle, he thought he noticed his braided fishing line fraying, nevertheless it was simply slush accumulating round one of many rod’s guides. In the course of the struggle, he says the fish towed his boat over half a mile from his start line. Finally, he managed to land the fish—an enormous wels catfish. Ballard’s fish was 8 toes lengthy. In response to the Every day Mail, it weighed 222 kilos, which comes simply 28 kilos under the Ebro River waterbody catfish file.
In response to the Catfish Conservation Group, wels catfish are native to japanese Europe and immediately thrive in waterways all through the continent. Wels catfish can develop to over 250 kilos, with the IGFA All-Deal with World File coming in at 297 kilos. The species is taken into account one of many greatest freshwater fish on the planet—and the largest freshwater fish in Europe.
Learn Subsequent: Large Wels Catfish Seaside Themselves Whereas Searching Pigeons
The Ebro River is a hotspot for catching large wels catfish. After touchdown and measuring his fish, Ballard efficiently launched the enormous again into the waterway. “I used to be bodily and mentally exhausted,” wrote Ballard. “It was the most important battle of my fishing profession.”
