British boy, 11, catches mega 152lb catfish during Spanish holiday – smashing European record for biggest freshwater fish caught by a child

There have been a number of Britons who have netted record-breaking catches over the years. 

Earlier this year, fisherwoman Ria Bignell, 27, broke the record for catching the biggest carp fish by a female in Britain, after reeling in the whopping 63lbs 11ozs catch at Waterside Fishery in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

Her monster common carp was only 4lbs short of the record for the biggest carp ever caught in Britain which stands at 68lb 1oz.

British angler Ditch Ballard, 37, landed a monster 222lb catfish which dragged his boat almost a mile after an hour-long epic struggle in freezing temperatures in March.

He was carp fishing on the bank of the River Ebro in Spain – where Joshua also made his record-breaking catch – when the 9ft creature took the bait and was hooked.

Ditch Ballard (pictured), 37, was fishing in Spain when he reeled in the enormous catfish, which dragged him down the river 

He hopped in his 12ft long aluminium boat and summoned all his strength to reel in the fish in the ‘biggest battle of his fishing career’.

The fisherman then placed his 16-stone catch on tarpaulin to weigh and measure it before returning the healthy fish to the water.

One of the world’s biggest goldfish was caught by angler Andy Hackett, 42, in Champagne, France, last year.

He caught the gigantic orange specimen, aptly nicknamed The Carrot. It weighed a whopping 67lbs 4ozs. The fish is a hybrid species of a leather carp and a koi carp, which are traditionally orange.

The Carrot is believed to be over 20 years old and was put in a lake at a fishery in France run by Brit Jason Cowler when it was young.

It was 30lbs heavier than what was considered to be the world’s biggest goldfish, caught by Jason Fugate in Minnesota, US, in 2019.

Another monstrous catfish was caught by Briton Dean McEwan, 36, who netted a 30-stone one in Thailand. 

Angler Andy Hackett holds ‘The Carrot,’ a huge fish weighing a whopping 67lbs 4ozs, which he caught in Champagne, France

Dean McEwan (centre), a 36-year-old oil rig engineer from Renfrewshire in Scotland, was stunned when he hooked in the monster Mekong catfish while on a fishing trip at Palm Tree Lagoon Fishery

The oil rig engineer from Scotland said he was stunned when he hooked in the monster Mekong catfish while on a fishing trip at Palm Tree Lagoon Fishery in southern Thailand.

The mighty specimen gave Dean the ‘fight of his life’ and it took him an hour-and-a-half to reel it in. Three men then had to help heave it into a large net so the catch could be measured.

 In 2019, another British angler, John Harvey, 42, got lucky in the same lake in Thailand as he caught the world’s biggest carp fish that weighed a staggering 232lbs.

He landed the enormous Siamese carp after a knee-trembling 80 minute battle to reel it in at a lake in Thailand. He said he couldn’t believe his eyes when the monster broke the surface of the water.

John Harvey, (centre) 42, landed the enormous Siamese carp after a knee-trembling 80 minute battle to reel it in at a lake in Thailand. Left: Lagoon guide Nanwam, right: fellow angler Dan Hastings

It tipped the scales at 16 and a half stone (105kg). The colossal carp had to be weighed using scales on a robust stainless steel tripod.

Back in 2017, Welsh fisherman Andrew Alsop, 48, caught a giant 7ft 7in tuna fish weighing a record-breaking 500lb.

The sea charter skipper fought with the fish before pulling it aboard with the help of five crew members 45 miles off the West Wales coast in the Celtic Deep area of the Irish Sea.

The whopping 36st (504lb) blue fin tuna weighs three times as much as Mr Alsop and is believed to be the biggest fish ever caught in Wales. 

In the epic battle the giant fish dragged his boat for more than two-and-a-half miles after it was hooked.