An Italian man managed to reel in a 280-pound catfish from the waters of the Po Delta in Italy.

The fish weighs in somewhat close to the world record -- it's about 28 pounds shy -- but here's the crazy thing: This guy, Dino Ferrari, caught the fish with nothing but a fishing rod and reel.

And as far as rod-and-reel catches go, his catfish checks in as the heaviest ever dragged ashore. The pictures, published by Sportex Italia, are nothing short of crazy:


As noted in the Daily Mirror, catfish are indiscriminate carnivores, eating whatever comes across their path. Reports of pigeons being plucked off the water by catfish have popped up from time to time.

Ferrari's catch is large enough that it could conceivably swallow its captor whole. From this angle, it's not hard to imagine:


The world record wels catfish, for what it's worth, also came from the Po Delta. Which makes one wonder, in spite of the cliche, what exactly they're putting in that water.

Here's one more photo, just to get a sense of the length on this fish:


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