Sick to the gills: Angler lands biggest catfish in the UK – but there’s a catch

What is particularly galling for the 57-year-old is that he is close friends with Richard Garner, who set the record when he caught Goliath in 1997 at Withy Pool in Bedfordshire.

“When I caught Goliath, which Richard caught and set the British record with 25 years ago, I thought, ‘Brilliant! Now I’ve got the bragging rights.’ But then I was told by the BRFC it won’t count officially because they have closed the list for catfish and that species no longer counts for records.”

Goliath is a wels catfish, or Silurus glanis, one of the world’s largest species of freshwater fish and the largest in Europe.

The BRFC ruling angered catfish aficionados, who say the species has been here long enough and should be accepted as home-grown. Goliath could be considered a native Briton, thought to have been spawned in Withy Pond 50 years ago from foreign parents introduced earlier.

Nick Simmonds, secretary of the BRFC, said: “Steve gets the recognition for catching such a huge fish. He’s had his picture taken with it and all that. I’m sure we all appreciate what a special catch this is, but it just won’t count as a record. 

“The committee made its decision in 2000 to no longer list catfish records, in order to discourage the import of illegal catfish and because it’s a non-native species, so it won’t replace the record held by Mr Garner.”

After catching and weighing Goliath last month, Mr Stewart returned him to the water, free to add a few more pounds to his ample girth.