Talk about catching a dang sea monster.
A fisherman had himself a day while casting lines in Argentina, where landed a ginormous 550-pound stingray.
According to the New York Post, the angler was 42-year-old Andres Wilchen, who caught the stingray while on an evening excursion in the Parana River on February 8th.
He shared:
“I’ve caught many large fish in my time, but this is without a doubt the biggest.”
Wilchen, a resident of Oliveros in the province of Santa Fe, had been casting out a “shark hook” baited with “large eel” on a stretch of river right in between the towns of Fray Luis Beltran and San Lorenzo.
That’s when he got a bite from a short-tailed river stingray, which you can find in fresh water throughout South America.
The short-tailed stingray is known for its distinct club looking tail, which is covered in spines with a poison stinger at the tip.
Wilchen admitted that he was about ready to give up while battling the stingray that was 36 feet down into the riverbed:
“I was about to give up due to exhaustion. It had tremendous strength and was thrashing about at the bottom of the river.”
He also said that the stingray had the power to drag them away if the boat hadn’t have been moored.
The battle lasted a whopping two hours, before they finally were able to get the creature into the boat.
Although Wilchen has caught up to 70 different fish on the Parana River, he says this one beats them all:
“I’ve caught lots of different species, including catfish and around 20 stingrays in the past, but nothing as big as this.”
And on top of that, Wilchen likes to donate his catches to charity:
“When we have a good day fishing, we donate the proceeds to two soup kitchens for homeless children. Overall, we regularly help over 50 families in the area.”
He also noted that they normally release the fish they catch as well.
Whatta day.
