A “monster” catfish could be the largest ever caught, measuring an astonishing 9 feet 4 1/4 inches in length, after an Italian fisherman battled the bottom-dwelling beast for 43 minutes before finally netting it.

What started as a normal day of fishing on the Po River for Alessandro Biancardi soon turned into a dream for the passionate fisherman.

He managed to capture the record after just a few casts, but “panicked” when he realised he was facing the biggest fish of his 23-year career completely alone.

The professional fisherman, who is part of the MADCAT fishing team, didn’t realize the size of the catfish until it began to surface and he struggled to get it out of his boat and onto land.

Alessandro said that while he was curious about the giant’s weight, he didn’t want to distress it too much and decided to free it “in the hope that it might give another fisherman the same joy it gave me.”

Italian fisherman Alessandro Biancardi managed to catch a record catfish in the Po River

Catch of the day! Alessandro was ecstatic to catch the fish of his dreams, which measured over 2.90 m long.

Following a recent drop in water levels following massive flooding in northern Italy, Alessandro decided to take the plunge last week.

Not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen on his solo trip, the fisherman prepared for his day on the water as he normally would.

He checked his gear and said, ‘I always need to be 100% sure everything is in place if a dream fish decides to bite my lure.’

And lo and behold, his dream came true and he managed to catch a gigantic catfish with which he has now shared incredible photographs on the river bank.

Alessandro described his amazement at coming across the “prehistoric fish,” which is almost the length of two people.

“When it first surfaced, I really realized I had hooked a monster, the adrenaline started pumping hard and the fear of losing it almost made me panic,” he said.

“I was alone facing the biggest catfish I have seen in 23 years.”

Alessandro’s battle with the big cat saw him brave the fast-moving water and debris from the swollen river, and even nearly lose his boat and equipment when he jumped onto land to try and pull it out.

Alessandro tried to cover the monster fish’s mouth with a glove as he struggled to get it out of the water for 40 minutes.

“The fish remained still for a few seconds before starting a very complicated fight,” he explained.

‘I tried putting a glove in its mouth two or three times, but it was still too strong, I decided to go into shallow water trying to catch it from the shore and after several attempts, I succeeded!’

The fisherman then tied the fish to allow it to recover from the long fight, before suddenly realizing that his boat, which was not anchored, was drifting away from the current.

If a battle with a giant catfish wasn’t enough, Alessandro was forced to swim to retrieve his boat and all his belongings.

He then called his friend to help him measure the beast, as he was sure the fish was special.

Sure enough, the catfish broke records and Alessandro and his fellow fishermen could hardly believe their eyes when they measured it.

The massive catfish exceeds the current IGFA world record for length on all tackle by 40cm.

‘I was very curious about the weight but was afraid of putting too much stress on this rare specimen, so I decided to release it safely, in the hope that it might give another angler the same joy it gave me.’

MADCAT claims these massive hooks will break the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world record for all-rig length.

It exceeds the current record holder, another fish caught in the Po by fisherman Attila Zsedely in 2010, by about 40 cm.

Unfortunately, since Alessandro decided to make his impressive catch public, it will not count towards this record.

It will, however, qualify for the IGFS catch-and-release length record, beating the previous record holder, a huge fish also caught in the Po, by four centimetres.