A BRITISH biologist on a working holiday in Thailand has captured a 55-stone (349kg) stingray - the biggest freshwater fish ever caught using a rod and line.The Sun reports Ian Welch, 45, spent 90 minutes reeling in the giant stingray and it took 13 men to lift it out of the water.
The stingray measured 7ft (2.1m) long and 7ft (2.1m) wide, while its poisonous barbed tail measured 10ft (3m). The previous record was a 46-stone (292kg) catfish caught in 2005.
Mr Welch had been visiting Thailand to help with a stingray tagging program when he landed the fish on the Maeklong River.
He told The Sun: "It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers - it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one.
"It buried itself on the bottom and the main fight was trying to get it off the floor.
"I tried with every ounce of power but it just would not budge. After half an hour my arms began shaking and after an hour my legs went.
"Another 30 minutes went by and then I put a glove on and physically pulled the line with gritted teeth and somehow I found the reserves to shift the fish."
Once the stingray was off the bottom 11.5 stone (73kg) Mr Welch, from Aldershot, Hampshire, managed to lift it 30ft (9.1m) to the surface.
He said: "As soon as we saw it there was just silence because everyone was just in awe of this thing.
"That line from the film Jaws came to mind about needing a bigger boat because we had to get it to the shore to tag it."
The group put a 12ft (3.6m) wide net under the fish and towed it to the bank.
Mr Welch and the team later released the stingray, which turned out to be a pregnant female.
credited to news.com.au and thesun.co.uk
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