Brit catches massive monster fish

A British adventure angler achieved a lifelong ambition when he landed a 250lb monster fish in South America - using a piranha as bait.

Steve Townson landed the wild arapaima - the world's largest scaled freshwater fish - from Middle River Essequibo in Guyana.

Mr Townson, who travels the world catching exotic fish, used a 2lb piranha to catch the mighty fish, plus another weighing around 150lb.

"The Arapaima is one of the world's biggest and mightiest freshwater fish and to catch them in the wild is a rare privilege," he said.

"They are protected and cannot be removed by law for the table, but our partners in Guyana are working on strictly catch and release with the local Amerindians.

"The Arapaima is the largest scaled freshwater fish in the world, but they can be delicate and must be handled with care.

"The fish I caught were never removed from the water and swam away strongly to fight another day!"

Mr Townson runs UK-based company Amazon-Angler.com - a company specialising in South American angling holidays.