FEW of us are lucky enough to achieve our life goals, let alone break a record in the process.

But company director Greg Iszatt did exactly that on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Suriname, South America.

The 44-year-old landed what is believed to be the biggest Paraiba catfish, a 248lb – nearly 18st – monster caught on rod and line in the country.

A relative newcomer to overseas fishing, Mr Iszatt was so shocked by his massive catch he is now taking a year-long break from the sport to recover.

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The father-of-two said: “As a fisherman you always hope to catch a record fish for a country.

“When I got back to the UK, I said, ‘what do I do now?’ – I feel fished out.”

The October fishing trip was organised by Joe Taylor, who runs J&K Tackle, in Bicester.

He has been fishing in Suriname for 11 years and confirmed that Mr Iszatt’s catfish is the biggest on record for the country.

As part of a group of six, Mr Iszatt explored the Coppename river system on a floating pontoon.

After a particularly rough day where he had missed out on the best spots and his live bait had died, Mr Iszatt went to bed.

At about 11pm he was woken up by the rest of the crew shouting that his reel was spinning.

“I jumped out of my bunk and ran to my rod, which I had tied to the pontoon, and frantically tried to undo the knots.

“The line was spinning so quickly there was a cloud of spray coming off the reel.”

Mr Iszatt added: “Joe turned round to me and said, ‘I’m so glad you’ve caught it, but I would give up every fish I have caught for that one because it is a monster’.”

But the highlight of the adventure was winning the admiration of his nine-year-old son and fishing fanatic Oscar.

Mr Iszatt, who also has an 11-year-old daughter, Mimi, said: “He was always giving me grief about how big my biggest fish is.”

Before he left, Mr Iszatt said Oscar, who goes to St Philip & St James Church of England Primary School in Oxford, gave him a good- luck charm – a toy koi carp.

Former Oxford Mail reporter, now senior reporter at the Angling Times, Thom Airs, said: “That sounds like an absolute dream catch.”

What weighs 248lbs?

  • Baby African elephants weigh, on average, 200lb
  • England Rugby’s Tom Wood weighs 249lb
  • The average English man weighs 184.24lb and the average woman weighs 154lb


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