A monster 19-stone catfish has been hauled from a dam after showing up on a boat’s sonar.
The huge fish was nine feet (2.73m) long and weighed a whopping 18.9 stone (120kg).
It is believed to be the largest fish ever caught with a rod in Bulgaria.
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Mario Hristov and Mario Spasov first spotted the beast on their vessel’s sonar.
They were fishing at Dyakovo Dam in Dupnitza, Bulgaria, last week when they came across the monster catfish.
They spent two hours trying to reel it in.
“I first caught a catfish in the dam that weighed 1.1 stone (7kg),” Hristov told What’s The Jam.
“Next to me, Mario Spasov was fishing at a depth of 121 feet (37 meters).
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“He noticed something huge approaching his bait on the sonar.
“It then hooked and unwound 328 feet (100 meters) of line.
“After 20 minutes, Mario’s hands started shaking and he shouted at me ‘I can’t hold it’.
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“He was going to drop the rod so I took over.
“Taking turns, we spent two hours battling with the catfish until we tired it out.
“I could see on the sonar that it was enormous.
“At other times, we’ve caught catfish of between 6.3 and 7.9 stone (40 and 50kg) in less than 20 minutes.
“But this was too difficult for one person to battle alone.
“Our hands were hurting and we were shaking all over.”
When asked if the huge catch was possibly a national record, Hristov said: “Maybe bigger catfish have been caught with a rod, but I’ve never heard of one so big.
“It seems to be the largest ever documented one.”
Footage shows Hristov placing his head inside the huge fish’s mouth after catching it.
He said: “We wanted to release the catfish alive, but were a bit too late.
“First we had to wait for weighing scales to arrive from Pernik to confirm that it was really over 100kg.
“Then we had to wait for a TV crew to arrive otherwise no one would have believed us.
“We did try to release it, but unfortunately the fish did not survive.”
Hristov also said that catfish have been known to attack humans and drag them into the depths.
He stated: “Sometimes they can become really aggressive.
“They’re so strong, they can drag you underwater.
“I heard about a catfish that drowned someone in the Danube River.
“They have numerous teeth that can puncture the skin and cause infection.
“If they can sink their fangs into something, they will hold on tight and drag you down.”
He added: “Their tails are also very powerful and dangerous.”
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