Amateur angler who had entire day without a bite lands the UK's biggest ever ... trends now
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An amateur angler who went all day without catching anything lands the UK's biggest ever fish caught by rod in freshwater.
Darren Reitz, 34, said he and three others had to battle for 50 minutes to haul the 143lb catfish out of Chigborough Lake on Saturday night.
The dustman from Rainham in Essex had started his day of fishing at the nature reserve in Maldon, Essex at 8.30am but had failed to catch a single fish.
After more than 12 hours fishing, at around 10.30pm, Mr Reitz said something finally took his bait and an hour after struggling against the monster fish, he was weighing his catch.
The previous record for a catfish was set at 130lb and the British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) has encouraged the record-breaking fisherman to claim his title.
Darren Reitz posing with his record-breaking catch. The 143lb-catfish was hauled out of Chigborough Laker at 10.30pm after more than 12 hours of fishing
The dustman, 34, said he was over the moon at his catch which he only managed to land after changing his bait.
What's the biggest fish you've ever caught? Send your pictures to [email protected]
The angler said he was overjoyed by his catch which has been nicknamed Scar.
Mr Reitz, who started fishing in 2017, ignored the advice of his friends and after a long day of disappointment switched his bait and managed to land the giant catch.
But it wasn't all plain sailing.
He told The Telegraph: 'My friends started panicking as it was clearly a big fish and they were telling me how I should pull it out.'
The fish could be the largest ever caught in the UK and Mr Reitz said he was a 'over the moon'.
'I can’t stop talking about it, you
