Paul had caught a 2.47-metre catfish and hoped to break his own record again soon. But his friend Mohammed unexpectedly beat him to it.
In the Dutch town of Dodewaard on the River Waal, an angler has recently set a new record. Mohammed Massaoudi was rewarded for his carefully planned hunt for the largest catfish in the Netherlands. He even used an echo sounder. At the weekend, a catfish measuring 2.49 metres finally took his bait and Mohammed hauled it ashore.
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The curious twist: the previous record holder was Mohammed’s friend and fishing partner, Paul Breems, who had most recently landed a catfish measuring 2.47 metres. After that catch, Paul was keen to beat his own record, but his mate beat him to it. According to a report on bild.de, which in turn cites the angling magazine Blinker, Paul helped his friend carry the catfish onto dry land. In recent years he had steadily improved his own records, from an initial 2.42 metres to 2.47 metres.
The Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander reported that Mohammed will now be officially entered as the record holder. Paul apparently took it well and congratulated his friend.
The catfish, incidentally, did not remain on land but was released back into the River Waal, so that it can continue to grow there. So Paul could yet reclaim the record in future.
Last year, a 90-kilo catfish in Lake Brombach in Bavaria bit several swimmers. The fish was eventually shot dead by police. According to the officers, the animal had been behaving aggressively.
