Now here is a bountiful catch. According to the Orange News, British angler Steve Townson achieved his dream of catching a giant, wild arapaima fish in Guyana.
The wild arapaima is the largest freshwater fish in the world, and Townson’s massive catch, plucked from the Essequibo River, weighed more than 250 lbs.
Townson achieved his fishy feat by using a 2-lb piranha as bait. The angler has travelled the world, especially South America, hooking exotic and unusual fish for a living. He has even started a company to help others do the same, calling it “Amazon Angler”.
After posing for photos, Townson allowed the fish to be released back into the water.
“The Arapaima is one of the world’s biggest and mightiest freshwater fish, and to catch them in the wild is a rare privilege,” Townson shared with Orange News. “They are protected and cannot be removed by law for the table, but our partners in Guyana are working on strictly catch-and-release, with the local Amerindians.”
Townson assured animal lovers that the fish was never removed from the water during the catch. Since the behemoths are actually quite fragile, the angler handled the arapaima with care and then let it swim away “to fight another day.”
A 339-lb arapaima caught recently by a different angler holds the current record for biggest arapaima caught.
