5 Biggest Fish Ever Caught In Nigeria

Fishing is one of the biggest professions amongst the people in the riverine area of Nigeria. Unlike other riverine area around the world, many giant fishes have been caught in Nigeria, but only few have been reported in the media, and these few reported was made know to the world after they were uploaded on the social media. This article will be focusing on five of the largest fish that has been caught in Nigeria. 

1. The largest fish caught during the Argungu International Fishing Festival. 

This is the only scene in Nigeria where giant fishes are been reported when they are caught. In March 2020, It was reported by the Independent that "Abubakar Yau from Augie Local Government Area of Kebbi has emerge winner of the 2020 Argungu International fishing festival. He got over N7million, two new cars and two Hajj seats for catching the big catfish weighing 78 kilometers."

The Arungun is a fishing festival in Kebi State in Nigeria where thousands of half-naked men hurled themselves into a river to catch giant fish in hand-held nets in a manic contest at the festival in remote northwestern Nigeria at a particular time. A fisherman holds his catch at the Matan Fada River after the festival for the judges to access which caught the biggest fish, and the fisherman with the biggest fish will emerge the winner of the contest, which will hugely attract big money as rewards. The festival usually comes up every seven years, after which fishing in the river will be ban for another 7 years to allow fish in the river to grow bigger for the next festival. 

2. Blue Marlin Fish in River State

A fisherman in Andoni local government of Rivers State captured the rare blue marlin on the 9th of March 2021. The fish was so huge that when it was uploaded on the social media it quickly went viral on the internet. Shortly after the news of the blue Marlin brook out on the social media, people began to do research about the fish and later realized the fish is over a million dollars. But then it was too late as the fisherman had already eaten the fish with members of his community.

3. The rare shark caught in Bayelsa State

This rare shark was captured in one of the local communities in Beyelsa State. Normally one will say what will a shark be doing in a fresh water? There are some rare species of sharks that swims into the fresh waters to hunt for a while and later return to the salt water. Only few sharks can do that and probably this captured shark falls into that category because it was captured in the river.

4. The Giant Cat Fish 

This giant cat fish was also captured in the Niger Delta part of Nigeria, though area it was captured was not stated at the time the photo was uploaded on the internet.

5. The Big Fresh Water Fish in Ibadan

This large fresh-water fish was captured in one of the big rivers in Ibadan, at the time it was brought to the city, many people started taken selfies with it and uploading it on the internet.

There are other instances where larger fishes have been caught in Nigeria, but most times many of these places are the very remote area of the country where there are no networks and are mostly not reported.