Daniel Storey, 31, landed the monster catch in a river near the town of Mequinenza, in north-east Spain, earlier this week while he was on holiday with two of his pals

A Brit on a lads’ holiday was left with a memory to last a lifetime after he managed to reel in a mega 250lb catfish.

Daniel Storey, 31, landed the monster catch in a river near the town of Mequinenza, in north-east Spain, earlier this week while he was on holiday with two of his pals.

The fish, which was returned to the water shortly after the group posed for pictures, was later identified as a Wels catfish and was close to beating the world record for the species.

Wels catfish on average weigh 120lbs and are usually found to be between four and five feet long.

While the record weight for the species is 297.6lbs, locals were still in awe of the massive catch, which measured 8ft 2ins, Dan claimed.

Roofer Dan, from Carlisle, has been a keen fisher for 10 years, and said he was “over the moon” to catch the monster fish.

He said: “I really never expected this. Catching a massive fish like this is something you dream of.

“I’ve never caught anything close to that big so I didn’t know what it would feel like, and I only realised it was quite special because of the reaction of my friends.

“I didn’t even realise how amazing it was until people from the village were patting me on the back the next day.”

He was on day one of a week-long fishing trip with his friends Lewis Pattinson and Martin Irwin, both 32, when he hooked the enormous catch.

40 minutes of wrestling eventually led to him landing the catfish, which was so big that the group needed to use a sling to bring it out of the water.

Peter Irwin, 41, of Monster Catfishing Tours, the company running the tour, was with the lads at the time.

He said: “It’s a brilliant catch, and extremely rare – it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event.

“This is the biggest I’ve ever handled.

“I’ve seen people come fishing here for 20 years and not catch anything like that.

“It really was their lucky day. I don’t usually take people out fishing on day one but they insisted.”