Moment huge catfish dubbed the ‘Loch Ness of La Seine’ is pulled from the water in Paris city centre

River monster! Moment huge catfish dubbed the ‘Loch Ness of La Seine’ by watching crowds is pulled from the water in Paris city centre

  • Lina Lovisa Nilsson captured the video below the Louvre Museum on Wednesday
  • Footage shows a man fishing creature out of water as crowds gather around him
  • Huge catfish, dubbed an ‘ancient dinosaur’, released back into river afterwards
  • Ms Lovisa Nilsson said fish was perhaps ‘one of largest ever caught in city centre’

This is the incredible moment a huge catfish dubbed the ‘Loch Ness of La Seine’ is pulled from the water in Paris city centre.

Footage shows a man fishing the creature out of the water before laying it on the riverside as crowds gather around him to take a peek.  

Lina Lovisa Nilsson, who lives nearby, captured the clip on her mobile phone below the Louvre Museum in France’s capital city on Wednesday. 

The massive catfish, which was nicknamed an ‘ancient dinosaur’ and ‘monster’, was released back into the river afterwards.

Footage shows a man fishing the huge catfish out of the water below the Louvre Museum on Wednesday before laying it on the riverside as crowds gather around him to take a peek

In the video, onlookers can be heard gasping in astonishment while one says ‘what a beast’ as the fish is pulled from the water.

Ms Lovisa Nilsson told MailOnline: ‘I have never seen anything like this in any major city I have visited.

‘People shouted “Loch Ness of La Seine” and called it an ancient dinosaur and “monster”.’

She added: ‘I have seen people fishing in La Seine, but this fish was maybe one of the largest ever caught in the city centre.

‘The biggest catfish is ever caught in La Seine measured 1.90 metres and this was about the same size.’

A fisherman, Dino Ferrari, was previously filmed catching a giant 8ft 9in long wels catfish weighing 19 stone in Po Delta, Italy, in 2015. 

The fisherman is pictured pulling the huge catfish from the water in Paris city centre. In the video, onlookers can be heard gasping in astonishment

The fisherman is pictured pulling the huge catfish from the water in Paris city centre. In the video, onlookers can be heard gasping in astonishment

The catfish was laid on the riverside by La Seine

It was dubbed an 'ancient dinosaur' and 'monster' by watching crowds

The catfish was laid on the riverside by La Seine, left and right, and was dubbed an ‘ancient dinosaur’ and ‘monster’ by watching crowds

Lina Lovisa Nilsson, who filmed the footage, said: 'I have seen people fishing in La Seine, but this fish was maybe one of the largest ever caught in the city centre'

Lina Lovisa Nilsson, who filmed the footage, said: ‘I have seen people fishing in La Seine, but this fish was maybe one of the largest ever caught in the city centre’

In December 2014 schoolboy Sam Lee, 14, caught an 8ft 14 stone catfish while on a fishing holiday in Spain with his father Peter. 

The giant catfish immediately bolted 100 metres downstream, but Sam, from Chester, hung on and after a 35 minute battle finally landed the 2.5 metre-long fish.

In October 2014 a Cornish pensioner caught an 8ft-long, 15 stonepart-albino catfish, thought to be the biggest of its kind ever caught.

Tom Herron, 68, from Launceston, battled the cream-coloured monster fish in the River Segre, Mequinenza, Spain, for 40 minutes before finally hauling it in.

According to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the heaviest recorded blue catfish in the world weighs 64.86kg (143lb) and was caught by Richard Nicholas Anderson in Virginia, USA, in June 2011.