A man landed a 10st 6lb fish with his bare hands to win a prestigious fishing contest in Nigeria.

Bello Yakub, 48, wrestled his monster fish out of the water with the help of two flimsy nets to win £17,000. The 66kg fish was almost his own weight, reports the BBC.

Over 20,000 fishermen had entered the annual Argungu fishing festival in the northern state of Kebbi. Mr Yakub said this was the first time he had won in more than 30 attempts.

The huge fish are called Giwan Rua, which means "elephant of the water".

The men line up a kilometre away from the Fadan Mata river outside the village of Argungu and at the sound of a gun charge into the water.
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Wow thats huge! But after 30 try's i'm glad he won! Good for him!

Not to be outdone, the US has it's own version of hand fishing referred to as noodling. In regions of the South, hand fishers will poke beneath submerged roots, tree trunks, and into submerged holes in order to provoke large catfish into attacking. The fish is then hand hooked through the gill and removed thrashing from the water. In some cases, these fish are upwards of 80lbs and more then capable of drowning the person they are locked on to. The holes explored for catfish are also habitat for certain types of snakes and large snapping turtles, resulting in serious hand injuries and amputations. It's not uncommon to find noodlers nicknamed 'Nubs'.

Noodlers Anonymous

Name: Bello Yakub
Age: 48
Nationality: Nigeria
Title: Nigeria Fishing Champion
Signature Move: Chokeslam...

The main problem now is that the Nigerian authorities have arrested him for FRAUD as the fish was determined to have been dead for a lot longer than it should have been when allegedly caught by him!!!!!! It was also thought to have been caught in a net in the River Niger and transported dead to the lake where the comp takes place.

I bet this guy is also behind a lot of the 419 scams as well lol