Eleven-year-old girl lands fish nearly twice her height

Schoolgirl angler Jessica Wanstall netted a record when she hooked this monster fish that was more than twice the size of her. Jessica was nearly dragged into the water when the catfish weighing nearly 200lbs took her bait.

The plucky youngster spent 20 minutes fighting the beast and needed a helping hand from dad Mark to heave it out of the water. At nearly 9ft long and weighing 13.7 stones, the impressive specimen dwarfed 11-year-old Jessica, who stands at 4ft 10ins and weighs 5.7 stones.

She is now broken the record for the biggest freshwater fish caught by a child in Europe.



Jessica, from Sittingbourne, Kent, hooked the fish during a trip to Spain's River Ebro. She said: "I didn't realise just how big it was until I saw the photos afterwards. I look tiny next to it.

"My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn't feel small when I picked up the rod. It was really hard work pulling it in and my arms turned to jelly. My dad helped lift it onto the bank and I stood back and just laughed when I saw it. It was massive."

The mutant fish tipped the scales at an impressive 193lbs.