Tim Walden sent us these photos of two huge catfish he caught on a recent week-long campaign in France using 70lb Drennan Shockleader with an ESP Spod Rod.

Here’s Tim’s report in full:

Over the last 3 or 4 years I have been exploring different rivers in France trying to catch a big catfish. In total I had done over 20 days trying to catch my target – a fish of over 70lb I knew that I could have gone to the Ebro to catch a cat this size, but I wanted the challenge of fishing rivers not often visited by English anglers.

Up until my last night at the end of a week long trip, I had not caught anything, and the total catch for those 20 plus days was three catfish – one of 5lb, one of 15 and a 44. All that was about to change. I had finally had a run on my last but one day, and I hit into a big fish. After a great battle, I was able to glove out the biggest catfish I’d ever seen. I managed to get it into a sling and weigh it, and it blew my target as it weighed 114lb. I was absolutely delighted all that hard work and countless hours of planning had paid off!

But I wasn’t quite finished. On the very last morning, with just a few hours to go until I had to leave to drive home, I had another run. This time the fish was even heavier, so I assumed that it must have gone into a snag, as surely I couldn’t get an even bigger one.

After a massive battle which I didn’t time, but was probably over half an hour, I finally saw an incredible sight. The most mind-blowing fish emerged from the water, and this time it was too heavy to weigh on my own. I phoned my parents, who lived around an hour away, for help weighing it. As they were driving over, I tied my scales to an old fence post that had been washed up.

When my dad arrived we put the post across our shoulders and recorded a weight of 175lb. The best fish of my life had been landed.

For more information on Drennan’s fantastic range of sea lines, click here.