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Title: 280-pound catfish: Wels catfish caught by Italian fisherman could swallow a man
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URL Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/280 ... sherman-could-swallow-an-adult
Published: Feb 25, 2015
Author: The Examiner
Post Date: 2015-02-25 22:31:04 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 3362
Comments: 11
The 280-pound catfish caught by an Italian fisherman is a record-setting wels catfish. With an enormous weight of 280 pounds and a length of 8.8 feet, the catfish caught by Dino Ferrari has some people wondering whether the monstrous catfish could in fact eat a man if it wanted to do so. According to a Feb. 24 USA Today report, the photo taken of the Italian fisherman and his massive catch certainly seems to show “that this thing could just swallow an adult if it wanted to. It’s enormous.” Italian fisherman Dino Ferrari caught the wels catfish on Thursday in the Po Delta, which is part of the famous Po River. With a length of more than 400 miles, the Po River is the longest river in Italy. The Po River and the Delta are known among fishermen for big wels catfish – but a length of 8.8 feet astonished even Ferrari, who is an expert fisherman. The wels catfish is a fresh and salt water fish native to central, southern, and eastern Europe. As can be seen in the picture, it is scaleless with a broad, flat head and wide mouth. The wels catfish is the second-largest freshwater fish found in the Po region. The largest fish is the beluga sturgeon which can reportedly weigh more than 3,000 pounds. Wels catfish are said to have very good hearing and can live up to 30 years. Newest research has shown that in addition to worms, insects, crustaceans, and other fish (including smaller catfish), the larger wels catfish will also eat frogs, mice, rats, aquatic birds, and ducks. "Recently, individuals of this species in environments that are not their native habitats have been observed lunging out of the water to grab pigeons on land." Pictures of the 280-pound catfish and Ferrari were shared on Sportex Italia’s Facebook page. Sportex Italia, Ferrari’s sponsor, called his catch the “world record spinning torpedo” – meaning it is a world record for the type of tackle used. Even though the biggest wels catfish ever caught in the Po Delta was reportedly 308 pounds and 9.1 feet long, Sportex Italia points out that no one knows how that fish was caught. Ferrari’s fish is one of the biggest wels catfish actually recorded in recent history. It is certainly the largest wels catfish caught in the Po region with just a reel, a rod, and simple bait. The 280-pound catfish caught by Italian fisherman Ferrari was lured with artificial bait on the surface. According to Ferrari, he only used a reel and a Torpedo spinning rod made by an Italian manufacturer, and the fight with the enormous fish from his boat took about 40 minutes. After Ferrari and his brother Dario weighed the monstrous creature, they released it back into the Po Delta. As another Italian fisherman points out, “any one of us, of course, hopes that these catches do not remain isolated but that these dinosaurs of the river can go back to swim many more days in our waterways.”
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#3. To: A K A Stone (#0)
(Edited)
That's a PhotoShop fake if I've ever seen one. Edit: Look at the shadows for starters.
Edit: Look at the shadows for starters. That shadow is his brother's, snapping the photo. The sun is behind the brother near sundown, casting his shadow toward the fish.
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#10. To: Fred Mertz (#3)
That's a PhotoShop fake if I've ever seen one.
Replies to Comment # 10.
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