Some nice fish

Stefan Seuss (r) and Benjamin Grunder present their 102,8 and 97,4 kilo heavy catfish.The fish were caught in Italy in Bernhard Heiner's "Welcamp on the Po" During the night between 21. and 22. March the two Quantum-testanglers, Stefan Seuss and Benjamin Grunder made history in Italy for the catching "Wels" story. They had been fishing already very successfully in Bernhard and Ute Heiner's "Welscamp" on the River Po the days before. But in this particular night they broke the IGFA-World Record twice. About half-an-hour before midnight Stefan Seuss received a very hard bite. This was followed by a long, tiring battle, during which, because of the fish's long runs, it became apparent it must have enormous dimensions. After about 45 minutes, Stefan tried to hand land the fish, but was pulled into the River Po. In the end he managed to get the monster fish out of the water though. Just after he was back on his feet, and in control of the situation, he saw his fellow fisherman and team-colleague Benjamin Grunder running in the direction of his rod, which was a bit downstream, where the bite-indicator was virtually screaming like crazy. This was followed yet again by a breakneck battle, ending however, with another successful landing. The two fisherman were speechless after the first, quick measuring of the fish. Both of them were well over 2,40 meters long. Absolute madness! After daybreak both fish were measured, in the presence of a notary, seven witnesses and with calibrated, certified scales. This proved that the catfish from Stefan Seuss with a length of 2,48 metres and weighing 102,8 kilos was the larger of the two. But Benjamin Grunder's fish with 2,41 metres and 97,4 kilos also broke the existing World-Record. The catch data from the giant catfish from Stefan Seuss are now submitted to the IGFA so that it will be recorded as the new World-Record. The fish were caught with the following equipment: Rod - Rhino DF Big Fish, 2,85 metres, Reel - Quantum Crypton Big Pit fixed spool reel and as line Quantum Catfish Braid 50 kg. The water temperature at the venue was only 9.2 degrees centigrade due to the long, cold winter. Both anglers had been fishing on a long sandbank for the first days and had caught several extremely good "Wallers" up to 71 kilos - although this became slightly unimportant after this very special night! Most successful baits have been live bream of 1-3 lb size.