The wels catfish is Europe’s largest freshwater fish with an average size on the Ebro River about 100 pounds. The Wall Street Journal once referred to these behemoths as “a Leviathan worthy of Melville’s pen and the ugly, freshwater cousin of the blue marlin.”

Obviously, it was a beauty of a catch to Steward-Brown, who told Field and Stream that “catfish fight harder than any other freshwater fish.”

“To catch such a big girl like that was a privilege,” Steward-Brown told Field and Stream. “It was truly a great fishing holiday.”