This monster from the depths of France certainly met its match with this British fisherman. Jack Griffiths, 20, went fishing for small carp with a tiny rod but he ended up spending an hour trying to haul in a 102lb catfish, which was bigger than him.

Jack’s ‘waggler’ rod is designed to catch 15lb fish so he had to use ‘every muscle’ in his body to catch the monster.

The huge fish measured just over 6ft – as tall as Jack, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire. His 20lb line ‘bent over completely’ as he battled to get the fish onto dry land at Rock Lakes in central France, reports the metro.co.uk.

Jack, a keen fisherman since the age of three, weighs 147lbs (10.5st) meaning the huge fish was two thirds his weight.

Jack, who works in the fishing industry, said: ‘To say the rod wasn’t suited for this fish is an understatement. ‘This fish battered and bruised me. I experienced aches and pains in places I’ve never felt before, but I sure wasn’t going to give in.

‘The rod certainly stepped up to the job.’ Jack says he’s never caught a fish as big as this. He added: ‘The float just shot under and it took 100 yards of line off my reel. It was incredible.

It took every part of my body to land it. ‘I knew it was a big fish but I didn’t know how big until I saw it. I was astonished. We needed bigger scales to weigh it on. It’s the biggest fish I’ve ever caught.’ Jack had to haul the fish out of the water himself as his net was far too small to be of any use. He said the catfish was safely released back into the lake, but only after he posed up for photos with his trophy.