Big cat fish is no match for Jess

[Spiel]

Big cat fish is no match for Jess

 

 

Jul 15, 2009

JAMIE PYATT / thesun.co.uk

 

 

 

 

TEENY schoolgirl angler Jessica Wanstall netted a new record when she hooked this monster 200lb fish — which was more than TWICE her own weight.

Jessica, 11, was fishing for carp when a giant catfish took her bait and dragged her so violently towards the waters edge that her shocked dad had to grab her.

 

The plucky youngster spent 20 minutes fighting the beast and needed a helping hand from dad Mark to finally heave it out of the water and on to the riverbank.

 

At nearly NINE FEET long and weighing 13.7st the impressive specimen dwarfed shaking Jessica who stands at just 4ft 10ins and weighs only 5.7st.

 

She now holds the record for the biggest freshwater fish caught by a child in Europe.

 

Jessica, from Sittingbourne, Kent, who hooked the fish during a trip to Spain's River Ebro, said: "I didn't realise just how big it was until I saw the photos afterwards.

 

"My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn't feel small when I picked up the rod and then it just pulled so hard I thought I was going in.

 

"My arms turned to jelly while I was trying to land it and I have never been so exhausted but luckily my dad was there and was able to lift it on to the riverbank.

 

"It was massive and I felt tiny standing next to it!"

 

The catfish tipped the scales at an impressive 193lbs.

 

Jessica is normally used to catching "tiddlers" and it was 13 times bigger than her previous record of a 15lb carp.

 

It was 150lbs bigger than her 13-year-old brother Spencer's best catch and 10lbs greater than her dad's best effort in forty years of fishing.

 

Mark, a 49-year-old engineer, said: "Jessica normally catches tiddlers and she was fishing for carp although we knew there were catfish in the river as well.

 

"Then she got a bite on her rod and she was off towards the water so I grabbed hold of her.

 

"As the fish got near we could see how big it was and then its tail came out of the water and it looked like the Loch Ness Monster - everybody in the bank was gasping.

 

"I'm so proud of her - it could have eaten her whole!"

 

Mark, Jessica and family friend Gary Peet landed 51 catfish during their trip but Jessicas was by far the biggest.

 

Their fishing guide Bodo Kunkel, who runs Bavarian Guiding Services on the River Ebro, said: "It was a large fish, much bigger than Jessica.

 

"She couldn't close her mouth afterwards, she was, how do you say, over the moon. She is the only child to have caught a freshwater fish that big in Spain and probably Europe."

 

Jessica was fishing with bait pellets for carp and returned the fish alive to the water after weighing it.

[johnnyb]

that's fantastic...truly a fish story that she'll tell for a loooonnnngggg time to come. Too bad about future boyfriends though...talk about being intimidated