UK's biggest catfish landed

Three days of inaction were soon forgotten for James Jones when he netted this 144lb catfish - thought to be the largest example of the species ever landed in the UK.

The Essex rod was fishing on the Predator Lake at his local Oak Lake Fisheries and didn’t receive a single bite until the dying stages of his trip, when the huge cat powered off with his double Mainline Activ8 18mm boilie hookbait. An intense two-hour battle followed before the giant finally surfaced ready for netting.

“I knew the water was home to some big catfish but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to land a new British best,” explained James, who used 20lb mainline, a 35lb Kryston Quicksilver hooklink and a size 2 Nash Fang hook.