In the week or so since British angler Chris Grimmer landed a 194-pound albino catfish while on holiday in Spain, his home country newspapers have had fun with the story.

The Express, for example, topped its write-up with this headline: "Better Get More Chips, Love... "

The eight-foot-long behemoth, a wels catfish pulled from the River Ebro after a 20-minute struggle, is said by Catmaster Tours to be the heaviest albino catfish ever caught on rod and reel (pictured).

The Sun quotes Grimmer as saying, "It was like trying to reel in a bus. I could barely walk afterwards, but it was worth it."

The cream-colored beast, which was set free after it was weighed, was two pounds heavier than the previous record, caught and released last year in the same stretch of river by Sheila Penfold, who is blind. That had been declared the previous record "and nobody disputed it," said Colin Bunn, spokesman for Catmasters.

Grimmer's catfish was thought at first to be the same fish, "but when we checked the photos it was a different fish," Bunn added.

Grimmer told the Express: "It took my reel and stripped it and it was then that I knew it was a big one. My mate went into the water to help lift it out. I was jumping down the bank when I realized it was a record."

The International Game Fish Assn. does not keep track of "albino" catfish records, but the IGFA lists the all-tackle record for wels catfish as a 297-pound, 9-ounce specimen landed last year in Italy's River Po.

Of the wels catfish, the IGFA website states that there are "tales of it attacking and drowning dogs and even children, but these are based on hearsay, rather than observation."

Bunn, who has had clients from 69 countries ply the River Ebro for giant catfish, could not recall any such incidents.

-- Image showing Chris Grimmer (left) and buddies posing with monster albino catfish is courtesy of Catmasters Tours