Passionate sports fisherman and businessman Antônio Pedro has reached the summit of “pirarara’ fishing.
Fishing in the Rio Xingu in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, he caught his redfin aerial catfish of over 1.4 meters and about 70 kilos.
According to the fisherman, the search for the record took almost ten years.
The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) stated that sport fishing could be done in indigenous areas with the permission of the indigenous community.
Antônio explained that the fishing trip took place during a visit to the Xingu at the invitation of indigenous people from the community of Morená.
According to him, the catfish, native to the Amazon, Tocantins, and Araguaia river basins, was caught on August 22 last year.
The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) recognized the record about two months later, in December.
Antônio said he had relied on his luck, but he went to the river in an indigenous village with the certainty that he would achieve his goal.
“I have been a passionate fisherman for a very long time.”
“We left Goiânia and traveled over a thousand kilometers, and when we got there, they [the locals] said they had extraordinary fish.”
“I already had in mind the size of the previous record and the size of the fish I had to catch.”
The previous record, Antônio said, also belonged to another Brazilian and had not been broken or even equaled in years.
The pirarara fish now caught surpassed weighed about 40 kilos and was 1.3 meters long.
That is seven centimeters and 30 kilos less.
However, the dream was almost shattered, according to the fisherman.
Because when the catfish rose to the water’s surface, Antônio saw that the animal had only the loose hook in the corner of its mouth.
When he was put in the canoe, the hook came out of the fish’s mouth.
For him, no words can describe the adrenaline and emotion of catching the fish, which took about three minutes to be pulled out of the water.
Although the “fight” against the “freshwater shark,” as the pirarara is also called, was short, the moment was unforgettable, especially after he received the plaque from the IGFA.
“I cried, jumped, and pirouetted. I was stunned; it was something unusual.”
“Every day that passes, when I look back, I am grateful.”
“I had a life-size picture made of the fish because people have no idea how big it is.”
“It was very big, very fat,” he explained.
Antônio says he had to prepare in advance for this record.
He said it was not enough to catch the fish but also necessary to measure it, weigh it, and record every moment since the person could not get help from others.
The fisherman said the measurements must also be taken in shallow places and without water.
The equipment must also meet the standards required by international sport fishing associations.
He has no intention of stopping now and wants to set new records, such as the piraíba, also known as “filhote,” which is considered one of the largest freshwater fish species in the world.
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