Angler pulled into lake by giant fish

An angler has caught a giant catfish after a two-hour battle during which he was dragged neck-deep into a lake. Daniel Sibley, 21, of Blaby, Leicestershire, landed the 108lb 4oz (49kg) "beast" while angling for carp with friend Aaron Johnson on Sunday. The fish, caught at Bluebell Lakes, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, is thought to be one of the heaviest ever landed with a rod and line in Britain.



Mr Sibley said: "I was exhausted. It took me for a right merry dance. After the fish took my line I realised what it was. I just had to get straight in and try to get some of the line back because I had half a reel's worth of line out," said Mr Sibley. Mr Sibley entered the water during his epic battle with the fish.



"I found myself out of my depth a few times. I was doggy-paddling until I could touch the bottom again," he said. "I kept thinking: 'When's it going to tire?', but eventually it did." It took two landing nets to bring the fish ashore. "Everybody mucked in to help us and we got some nice snaps. It was so slimy - it was like holding an eel, but so much bigger."


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After posing for photos with the fish, he put it back in the water and it swam away. Nick Simmonds, secretary of the British Record (Rod-Caught) Fish Committee, said no records had been kept for the Wels catfish since October 2000 because it was a non-native species. Before records were suspended, the largest catfish caught was listed at 62lb (28kg).