Huge Catfish ‘Could Erase’ Record, But Fisherman Isn’t Interested

An angler in England has caught a 133lb wels catfish in a pay and release lake in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in what could apparently be called a British record by a long shot.

Tomas Marcinkevicius’ catch would “erase” the official record of 62 pounds caught at Withy Pool in 1997, according to AnglingTimes.

But Marcinkevicius, who is a keen catfish angler, is not interested, telling AnglingTimes: “That would be nice but I know of bigger British catfish that have been caught. I’m just happy with the fish.”

The larger catfish he talks about that have been caught previously were simply not eligible for record status when they were caught, as the British Record Fish Committee suspended record recording for the species over 20 years ago.

The BRFC stopped recording record weights of the wels catfish in October 2000 due to concerns that it was an imported fish. But in November 2023, the committee reinstated the catfish on its record list after the threat of importing large catfish had diminished as the self-sustaining population reached large sizes.

Record or not, it’s an impressive catch, especially considering that the best time to fish for this species is during the warmer months.

But Marcinkevicius has been on a roll during these colder months.

He told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors that on Dec. 9 and 10, he caught a 110-pound fish, a 100-pound fish and six more than 70 pounds, as well as a few in the 50- and 60-pound range. He said he caught more than 30 fish and lost count.

Then, about a week later, at Willowcroft Fisheries, he caught what he thought was a 50- to 60-pound fish.

“On the way to shore, he didn’t realize I had him hooked, and then he turned and ran toward the other side of the lake,” he told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors.

When he saw the tail hit the surface and his head come out of the water, he started shaking and the adrenaline started pumping.

“I knew it was a big fish,” he said.

After 30 minutes, he caught the catfish and slid it into a weighing sling to capture its weight of more than 133 pounds before releasing the fish.

“This is the biggest fish I have caught so far in my life,” he said. “I am really happy.”

The fishing concession asked him to name the fish. He called it Tom Cat.

Incidentally, the world record for a wels catfish is 297 pounds, 9 ounces, caught by Attila Zsedely in the Po River in Italy on March 11, 2010, according to the International Game Fish Association, which holds world records.

The story was originally published on For The Win