292 centimetres long World record - anglers land monster catfish
Two amateur fishermen from southern Poland have made the catch of their lives. Their catfish measures almost three meters - breaking the previous world record.
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- Two anglers from Poland have caught a 2.92-metre-long catfish in the Rybnik reservoir.
- The animal beats the previous world record from Italy by seven centimetres.
- After 90 minutes of fighting, the men released the giant fish.
In Rybnik, Poland, a catch has been made that is likely to go down in fishing history. Two fishermen pulled a 292-centimetre-long catfish out of the water - the biggest ever caught.
Krzysztof Pyra and Adrian Gontarz were out on the reservoir on Sunday when they hooked the giant. It was only when they brought the fish to the surface after almost an hour and a half that they realized its size: the animal surpassed the previous world record of 285 centimetres, which had been set in the Italian Po in 2023.
Record catch in warm water lake
The Rybnik reservoir is located next to a power plant whose waste heat keeps the water constantly warm - ideal conditions for catfish, which grow particularly large here. "When we finally saw it, we could hardly believe how huge it was," said one of the two anglers on Polish television.
After measuring and photographing the fish, the men released the colossus. The catfish slowly disappeared into the murky waters, while the fishermen still stood on the shore in disbelief.
The catch made headlines in Poland and beyond. The town of Rybnik officially congratulated the men on the record and spoke of a "historic moment for the region". Fishing clubs celebrated the catch on social media as proof that Europe's inland waters are still home to "true giants".
In exceptional cases, catfish can weigh over 100 kilograms and live for several decades. The appearance of a specimen of this size in an artificial lake is considered a minor sensation - and is likely to put Rybnik on the map of the international fishing scene once and for all.
It was only in August that another catch causeda sensation: Czech angler Jakub Vágner caught a 2.68-metre-long catfish in the Vranov reservoir. He describes the spectacular scene as a fight that lasted 50 minutes.
