When Sergio Correia Mesquita goes down to the Marmande hold with his equipment, he is greeted with the respect due to him: “It’s the boss who is arriving. » Physically, the fifty-year-old does not impress more than that; It’s his track record that speaks for him. The agricultural mechanic collects catfish catches in the Garonne (17 in 2023 alone) and documents them on social networks: 2 meters, 2.26 m, 2.50 m… and even 2.52 m on May 1 , the biggest fish he ever caught. “I want the French record, that’s my goal,” he smiles. That is more than the 2.74 m predator fished in the Tarn seven years ago.
Catfish is his hobby, one dares to write. And yet, his passion for fishing, in general, and for catching this giant that wreaks havoc in rivers, in particular, is relatively recent. “My father took me fishing with him when I was a kid in Vaulx-en-Velin (a suburb of Lyon, Editor’s note),” he remembers. But he was observing. Because rather than feeling the stud, the Marmandais was the type to feel the grass of football fields. A series of injuries to his hip and jaw forced him to hang up his crampons in 2016.
“A monster at the end of the line”
It was the discovery of Cyril Chauquet’s show, “Pêche XXL” on RMC Découverte, that pushed him to buy his first rods and take up a new activity every weekend. Nothing very spectacular at the start: bleak, roach, bream… which he will fish in the Garonne, near Sainte-Bazeille. Then comes the encounter: “I come across a 1.45 m catfish. I was scared of my life, I had never had anything so big. I really felt like I had a monster at the end of the line. »
The catfish bit his line, but it was Sergio who became bitten by the predator. He subscribes to the Silure de France Facebook page, avidly browses the publications, posts his catches with pride and seeks to perfect his technique. He multiplies garage sales, hunts store clearances, sometimes as far as Bordeaux, to get a good deal. At work, the mechanic collects scrap metal to make his own rod supports. ” This is my passion ; I have the most sophisticated setup of the dozen fishermen in Marmande, but I don’t want to break the bank. »
Fishing and release
In 2023, Sergio Correia Mesquita caught two catfish on the same day at the hold in Marmande: “The best place, because there is a lot of bottom”.
Sergio Correia Mesquita
A passion and a moment of relaxation to unwind on the weekend: “It’s a change from the screwdrivers at work. When I’m on the banks of the Garonne in Bazeille, the birds sing around me, it’s serene. I’m getting some energy for Monday, even if I’m trying to get a catfish out. » Because the battle can sometimes be epic and last forty-five minutes, to “dominate the fish” and get it out of the water.
Which will return there after measuring and weighing: Sergio releases each predator after its catch. “A 2.20 m fish that I catch one day might be 2.50 m three months later. » It’s not because you never swim twice in the same river that you never fish for the same catfish twice…
