A fisherman caught a “colossus” on the Vistula River. The size of the specimen is astonishing

An angler from Niedzica (Lesser Poland Voivodeship) did not plan to fish that day. However, he went to Wisła with a friend who persuaded him to meet. Even though he was supposed to stay in his studio and finish the wobbler (artificial bait) he had ordered, he was tempted to go on the trip.

He will certainly remember the unplanned struggle with a giant catfish for a long time.

“Look, what a big shadow!”

Józef Pojedyniec caught a rare-sized Silurus Glanis at the end of June – on the Vistula River. There he launched a pontoon with a friend. Soon they began “trolling”, i.e. pulling bait behind – in this case – an inflatable boat, which provokes fish. The enthusiast chose a red and blue wobbler with a length of 12 centimeters for this purpose – describes the magazine “Wiadomości Wędkarskie”.

The weather was favorable for the men, who devoted themselves to their favorite activity for several hours. Eventually the rain fell and the sun began to set. The fishermen decided to return to the car, which they had parked on the shore. They were already heading towards him, although still trolling. Then suddenly the shadow of a catfish appeared on the echo sounder (a device that reveals on the screen what is underwater thanks to ultrasound sent to the bottom).

“Look, what a big shadow!” – the resident of Niedzica said to his companion. “A moment later I felt a huge thud on the rod,” Pojedyniec describes. As he further indicated, he already felt that the fish was his, but then the “first departure” occurred. “The catfish jumped 10 meters and I had a hard time dragging it to the inflatable boat. I felt a pulsating weight on the pole. After a while, the colossus drove away again, but this time it took a lot more line,” reports the enthusiast.

He took one look at the catfish and knew everything

He adds that it took five to six minutes to capture the specimen. He referred to wrestling with a fish as “wrestling.” “Finally, the catfish showed itself to us in all its glory on the water surface. It was huge. I firmly grabbed the huge fish by its lower jaw and we pulled it onto a specially prepared stretcher placed across the pontoon,” he explains.

The man’s companion suspected that it might be longer than 230 cm. Duelist thought of the same thing when he “took a look at the fish tail hanging from the stretcher, which reached into the water.”

The men carefully measured and photographed the giant Silurus glanis as soon as they reached the shore with the fish and placed it on the mat. It then turned out that he was exactly 233 cm. After the “high five”, the anglers decided to throw it back into the Vistula.

The Polish record is 261 cm

Although the specimen is definitely impressive and few people can boast of catching such a gigantic catfish, it should be emphasized that it is far from the Polish record. This one belongs to Mateusz Kalkowski – a fishing guide – who caught his 261-centimeter catfish on the Masovian section of the Vistula. Since the first half of August, it has been the undisputed number one here.

It is worth remembering, however, that catfish can reach up to three meters in length, so enthusiasts of the discipline still have a demanding task ahead of them, which they will certainly be able to cope with one day.

Below is a photo of a catfish that an angler from Małopolska caught in 2023.