"Hi everyone, I'm Alessandro Biancardi from MADCAT ITALY team, I'm here to describe with trembling voice and eyes full of joy, what happened just few days ago, after 23 years of intense catfishing!

Everything started as a normal day of fishing, I went to the great river Po. Before leaving I checked knots, hooks, each connection, because I'm extremely meticulous. I always need to be 100% sure that everything is in place if a dream fish decide to bite my lure.

I was alone on my boat, the water level was starting to drop after a big flood, I decided to fish with spinning technic so I started casting my lure in the muddy water… I used to start with a crank bait to quickly understand if fish are active or not, this time I had a different feeling and I started with a Savage Gear Cannibal Shad on a 12/0 (40 gram) jig head.

In silence I approached the first spot and after few casts a powerful bite arrived, the fish stood still some seconds before starting a very complicated fight, between strong currents and a lot of submerged obstacles. I calmly managed to fight what I felt to be a prehistoric fish. I followed it for 40 endless minutes, when it surfaced for the first time, I really realized that I hooked a monster, adrenaline started pumping hard and the fear of losing it almost sent me into a panic, I was alone facing the biggest catfish I ever seen in 23 years.
I tried gloving its mouth 2-3 times, but it was still too strong, I decided to go in shallow water trying to land it from shore and after few tries, I managed to land it!

I tied the fish to let him recover from the long fight then I suddenly realized that the boat was not anchored, and it was going away in the current, I was forced to have a swim to recover it with all my stuff.

I called my friend Marco to reach me and to warn the guys at the near WELS-CAMP AM PO, I was sure that the fish I caught was special, but I never imagined what would happen next when we measured the fish on the mat. Under the incredulous eyes of many anglers, the meter stopped at 285 cm, it was the new WORLD RECORD catfish!

I was very curious about the weight but I feared to stress too much that rare specimen so I decided to safely release it, hoping it could give another angler the same joy he gave to me."

Gear used to catch this world record monster:

• Rod: MADCAT XTAAZ Spin 2.70m
• Reel: Savage Gear SGS8 8000
• Line: MADCAT prototype braid
• Lure: Savage Gear Cannibal 15cm
• Jig head: MADCAT (12/0) 40g

Alessandro, you have the respect and hearty congratulations of the whole MADCAT team! You’re simply the best! 

Please give Alessandro an applause and a follow:
https://www.facebook.com/alessandro.biancardi.18  
https://www.instagram.com/alebiancardi_catfishing_madcat/

ℹ: In the presence of 10 witnesses, an official measurement that was thorough was done. Additionally, documentation was sent to the IGFA so they could officially record this large fish! Although this procedure takes some time, what matters to us is that our consultant captured the largest catfish ever— catfish world record!