UK Angler Reels in 200-Pound Monster Catfish in Spain

An hour-long battle in a Spanish river resulted in the angler reeling in a monster catfish that weighed over 200 pounds.

Ditch Ballard, a British angler, was pursuing carp in Spain's River Ebro when he noticed a bend in his rod, which indicated that something substantial was fastened to it.

It was a nearly nine-foot catfish, he realized.

Ballard claimed in a social media post that the catch was violently ripping off the reel.

A post shared by instagram

A Determined UK Angler

To focus on reeling in the enormous fish, the angler decided to jump in and unfasten his boat.

The angler struggled to bring the catfish to the surface as it pulled him along in his boat.

Ballard went on to say that the hour that followed was just painful.

As his muscles grew tired and the effects of the adrenaline wore off, his body temperature started to drop, and he found himself hunched at the bottom of the boat, trembling uncontrollably while desperately trying to hold on.

Ballard became aware of how far the enormous fish had towed him.

Almost a mile from the coast, the angler was cold and had trouble putting his gloves on to help win the battle.

The UK angler simply pulled as hard as he could because, according to him, he needed this conflict to end in some way, and this was when the enormous catfish finally broke the surface.

200-Pound Monster Catfish

He recalled that despite being physically and mentally exhausted, he managed to grab its jaw and had to give one final pull to secure his prize.

He would still not wish it on anyone, even though it was the toughest challenge of his fishing career.

He held the massive creature for an instant and pondered how he would ever defeat it in freshwater as the sun crept up a few hours later, blanketing everything in a harsh ground frost.

Later, he added that he wasn't sure he would ever want to face the monster catfish in freshwater after giving it some thought.

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Ebro River, Spain

The Ebro River is referred to as the "catfish capital of Europe" and is known for harboring large catfish, according to Newsweek.

The Ebro is the longest river in Spain, measuring more than 925 kilometers, as per Ebroasis Fishing and Outdoor.

The Ebro River originates in Northern Spain's Cantabrian Mountains and empties into the Mediterranean Sea at Tortosa.

The Wels catfish, a species that inhabits this area, is well known for maturing to exceptionally large sizes.

It is indigenous to Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe and is present in numerous Black, Baltic, and Caspian Sea basins.

Due to its size and the difficulty in reeling one in, it is on the bucket lists of many competitive anglers.

Anglers frequently catch fish weighing 80 pounds, and occasionally they reel in animals weighing over 200 pounds.

Biggest Catch in Ebro

Approximately 2.67 meters long and weighing 120 kilos, the fish was caught by an angler from Valladolid after "a colossal fight" lasting more than 30 minutes.

The catfish pulled the angler 200 meters downstream and was capable of lifting and lowering the boat significantly during this time, showing off incredible strength and resistance, SUR in English reported.