Reeling in catfish was big surprise, says angler

An angler has described his surprise after reeling in a Wels catfish from a Berkshire fishing lake.

Anthony Gee was fishing at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Wokingham when he caught the invasive species, which can grow up to 9ft (2.7m).

Mr Gee, from Bracknell, said the fish he caught was relatively small, weighing about 8lb (3.6kg).

He reported the catch to Wokingham Borough Council, which said it had humanely removed the catfish in order to protect local wildlife.

The council said the "top predators" could "devastate" native species of fish and other animals such as swans and geese.

It thanked Mr Gee for "doing the right thing" and reporting the find.

Mr Gee said he set up for fishing as normal at the lake, in his favourite spot with three rods.

He said his his bite alarm sounded and he noticed the rod tip "wiggling away".

"I thought there is something going on there," he said.

"So, I picked the rod up - initially I thought it was a weed because it was dark and suddenly [the fish] kicked.

"I thought it may have been a pike, we normally fish for carp and this was not normal.

"I went to net it, I saw this white belly and once in the net I saw these big whiskers.

"They've got these big protruding nodules on the front of their mouths which they used to sense, sense prey.

"They're not pretty."

Mr Gee added that he was "very surprised" to catch the Wels catfish, known locally as the Winnersh Whopper.

It is illegal to stock Wels catfish and others like it without a special licence from the Environment Agency and Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science).

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