The wild arapaima is the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world. Steve’s massive catch weighed an estimated 250 lbs was taken from the Essequibo River using a 2 lb whole piranha as bait. After posing for photos, Steven released the fish to fight another day.
"The Arapaima is one of the world's biggest and mightiest freshwater fish and to catch them in the wild is a rare privilege," says Steve. "They are protected and cannot be removed by law for the table, but our partners in Guyana are working on strictly catch and release with the local Amerindian tribes”.
The adrenalin-seeking angler assured animal lovers that the fish was never removed from the water during the catch. Since the behemoths are actually quite fragile, the angler handled the arapaima with care and released it after gaining back its strength.
Surprisingly, Steve’s arapaima was not the biggest on record; a 339-lb fish has been caught recently by another angler who holds the current world record.
Steve runs the well-known fishing outfitter company Amazon-Angler.com and its sister company Africa-Angler.com. Anyone wishing to join Steve on trips inexciting destinations, please email him at steve@amazon-angler.com for more information.