A normal afternoon of fishing on France’s Saône River suddenly became anything but normal. Two friends hooked a European catfish measuring 6 feet 11 inches near Glanon and spent about 20 minutes trying to bring it in. Not exactly a small fish.
After finally getting it out of the water, they measured it, took photos and videos, and released it back into the river. The catch set a new personal length record for the angler holding the rod.
The rod suddenly came alive
On Saturday, Aug. 1, the two friends headed out onto the Saône near Glanon, just as they had done many times before. They traveled a short distance in their small inflatable boat and put their rods in the water. Then something moved.
While the pair were talking, one of the fishing setups suddenly started shaking. The angler quickly realized this was not going to be an ordinary catch.
For the next 20 minutes, it was basically a tug-of-war. On one side, a fisherman in a small boat. On the other, a freshwater predator longer than most people are tall. Eventually, the fish came within reach.
A personal record
“The fight lasted 20 minutes, and this fish gave me a great battle,” the angler later told French newspaper Le Bien Public.
Once they had the catfish out of the water, they measured it at 6 feet 11 inches. Its dark coloring also caught their attention. “This catfish had dark colors, it was magnificent,” he said.
They took a few photos and videos. Then came the important part. They put it back. According to the angler, the fish returned to the river “without any difficulty.”
No weight was reported, so there is no reliable way to compare its mass with other giant catches. Still, nearly 7 feet is hard to ignore. For the fisherman, it was a new personal best by length.
So, what kind of fish was it?
The animal was a European catfish, also known as a wels catfish or Silurus glanis. It is a freshwater species found across parts of Europe and Asia.
You know the look. A broad, flattened head. Long whisker-like barbels. Smooth skin instead of scales. And a lot of fish.
Wels catfish live mainly in freshwater and tend to stay close to the bottom or in open water depending on conditions. FishBase classifies the species as a freshwater and brackish-water fish with a broad European and Asian distribution.
The Saône is good catfish territory
A huge fish turning up in the Saône is not completely surprising. Big rivers provide exactly the kind of space these animals need. They also provide food. Plenty of it.
European catfish are predators and can eat a wide variety of aquatic animals. That flexibility is one reason they can thrive in large river systems.
Does that mean every catfish becomes a 7-foot monster? Of course not. the species is certainly capable of reaching extraordinary sizes.
FishBase records very large maximum sizes for Silurus glanis, although extreme historical measurements should always be treated carefully. The Glanon fish was huge. Just not impossibly huge.
Catfish can get even bigger
That is perhaps the strangest part of the story. A fish measuring 6 feet 11 inches sounds almost unreal when it is lying next to a person. Yet European catfish can grow significantly larger.
The original local report even pointed to another catch near Auxonne in 2023. That fish reportedly measured about 7 feet 11 inches.
So yes, the Glanon catch was a personal record. But by European catfish standards, there are bigger ones out there.Somewhere under the surface.
Why these fish attract so much attention
For anglers, part of the appeal is obvious. Size.
Hooking a fish this large is nothing like pulling in an ordinary river catch. The animal can use its body weight, the current, and sheer strength to turn the fight into a long physical battle.
Twenty minutes can feel very long when your rod is bent and the fish at the other end is close to 7 feet long.
There is also the uncertainty. You do not really know what you have hooked until it gets close enough to see. That is where the excitement comes in.
Release matters
The two anglers decided not to keep the fish. After measuring and recording it, they released it into the Saône. That may sound like the easy part. It is not always.
Large fish can be exhausted after a long fight, and handling them outside the water can add extra stress. Keeping the process short and supporting the fish properly can help reduce the risk of injury.
In this case, the angler said the catfish swam away without any apparent trouble. A good ending.
Of course, watching a fish swim off does not tell us exactly how it fared afterward. But a strong departure is at least an encouraging sign.
A very different fishing afternoon
The two friends had gone to the Saône expecting another familiar afternoon on the water. They had fished there for years. Then one rod started moving.
Twenty minutes later, they were standing next to a fish measuring almost 7 feet from head to tail. That is the kind of catch that changes the whole day.
And somewhere in the Saône, the same catfish may still be swimming.
The original report on the catch was published by French newspaper Le Bien Public.
