Catfish is one of the largest predators inhabiting the underwater river world. With a sufficient food supply, catfish can live for hundreds of years, gaining weight up to 500 kg and growing in length up to 4-5 meters. It is indicated that the largest catfish in the world was caught in Uzbekistan about 100 years ago. It weighed about 430 kg and was up to 5 meters long. Unfortunately, there is no official confirmation of this fact. You can find a mention that in Ukraine, in the Dnieper River, a catfish was caught, weighing 288 kg, which managed to grow up to 4 meters in length.
A catfish of this size can easily swallow an adult, as evidenced by official data. Some experts claim that there are cannibal catfish. But such statements have no scientific evidence. If human corpses are found in the belly of a river giant, it is assumed that the people were already dead. Simply put, these people drowned in due time, and only after that they were swallowed by a catfish.
Nowadays, the number of large catfish has sharply decreased due to the difficult environmental situation, as well as uncontrolled human fishing. In addition, modern gear has enormous potential in terms of catching fish. Despite this, weighty underwater predators are still occasionally encountered. In order not to be unfounded, we can present to your attention an overview of the largest catfish in the world, caught not so long ago.
The largest catfish in the world was caught in Thailand and information about it was officially included in the Guinness Book of Records in 2005. The fishermen managed to catch a rare specimen of gigantic size; its length was 2.7 meters and its weight was 293 kg.
The predator was caught on the Mekong River during a hunt; local fishermen have repeatedly caught huge catfish. Over the years, the local reservoirs have become polluted and large individuals have become increasingly rare. They wanted to hand the monster over to environmental service employees, but the catfish could not withstand the stress after it was caught and died.
According to unofficial data, on the Oder River in Germany, a fisherman was lucky enough to get a catfish weighing 400-450 kg; such data about the fish was provided by witnesses who saw the giant fish.
It is difficult to imagine a situation where such a huge fish is caught, because not every person will be able to withstand such a catch, much less get it to land. This requires strong gear and experience, courage and strength to get a giant trophy out of the water.
In tenth place was the largest catfish in the world from Belarus, whose length was 2 meters. It was caught by a local fisherman in 2011. When he and his assistants were catching fish with nets, after another cast, the nets suddenly refused to be pulled out of the water. For a whole hour, the fisherman and his comrades pulled the nets out of the water. After the catfish was pulled ashore, it was weighed and measured. With a length of two meters, its weight was 60 kg. The fishermen did not release the catfish, but let it be fried.
In 2009, local fishermen caught an albino catfish in the Ebro River, which was more than two meters long and weighed 88 kg. A Briton from Sheffield, Chris, managed to catch him. He tried to pull the catfish out on his own, but he failed. Chris had to ask for help from his friends, who also came to fish with him. It took more than 30 minutes for the catfish to reach the shore. The catfish was released after Chris and his friends, who helped pull the catfish out of the water, took a photo with it.
Eighth place goes to a catfish from Holland, who lives in the Centerparcs holiday park. The park is very popular among tourists and local residents. Moreover, everyone knows that a huge catfish, up to 2.3 meters long, lives in the park’s reservoir. This huge representative of the underwater world received the nickname “Big Momma”. The river monster eats up to three birds swimming on the lake a day, as evidenced by park guards. “Big Momma” is protected by the state, so fishing here is prohibited.
At the beginning of 2011, Italian Robert Godi managed to catch one of the largest catfish. He rightfully occupies the seventh position in this rating. With a length of about 2.5 meters, its weight was 114 kg. The experienced fisherman did not even hope that he would be so lucky. It took six people to pull the catfish out for almost an hour. Robert admitted that he arrived at the pond with friends in the hope of catching bream. The fact that instead of a bream a huge catfish pecked is very rare and unexpected. But most importantly, the catfish was pulled out. After determining its size and weight, the catfish was released back into the reservoir.
In the Rhone River, tourist Yuri Grisendi caught the largest catfish in France. After measurements, it became known that the catfish has a length of 2.6 meters and a weight of up to 120 kilograms. The man who caught him is engaged in a targeted hunt for such giants. Moreover, he catches not only catfish, but also other large representatives of the underwater world. Therefore, the catch cannot be called accidental, as in previous cases. After another monster is caught, it is filmed as evidence and released back into the water. There is nothing strange about this, because this is the hobby of this fisherman.
In fifth place is a giant from Kazakhstan, which was caught on the Ili River in 2007. He was caught by local fishermen. The giant had a weight of 130 kilograms and a length of 2.7 meters. According to local residents, they have never seen such a giant in their lives.
In 2005, in May, the largest catfish of these places was caught on the Mekong River. He weighed 293 kg, with a length of 2.7 meters. The reliability of the data was established by Zeb Hogan, responsible for the WWF international project. During this period, he investigated the presence of the largest fish in the world. The albino catfish that was caught is one of the largest representatives of freshwater fish that he noted in his work. At one time it was noted in the Guinness Book of Records. They wanted to release Soma, but unfortunately, he did not survive.
It’s not for nothing that this huge catfish is in third place. He was caught several years ago in Russia. This event took place on the Seim River, which flows through the Kursk region. It was certified by employees of the Kursk Fishery Supervision Authority in 2009. The weight of the catfish reached 200 kg, and its length was about 3 meters. Underwater fishermen-hunters saw him underwater absolutely by accident and managed to shoot at him with an underwater gun. The shot was successful, and the fishermen tried to pull it out on their own, but they were unable to do so. Therefore, they took the help of a rural tractor driver on a tractor.
After it was pulled ashore, local residents noted that this was the first such huge catfish that they had seen in their lives.
In second place is the largest catfish in the world, caught in Poland. He was caught on the Oder River. According to experts, this fish is more than 100 years old. This specimen weighed up to 200 kilograms and was 4 meters long.
A human corpse was discovered in the belly of this animal, so experts had to be invited. They concluded that the man was already dead when he was swallowed by this giant. So the rumors that the largest catfish in the world could be a man-eater were again not confirmed.
According to some statements, this huge fish was caught in Russia back in the 19th century. They caught him in Lake Issyk-Kul and this giant weighed 347 kg with a length of more than 4 meters. Some experts claim that at that time, at the place where this catfish was caught, an arch was built, reminiscent in appearance of the jaws of this huge underwater representative.
Unfortunately, recently there has been a sharp decline in the fish stocks of our lakes and rivers. Fish are increasingly suffering from pollution of water bodies by various chemicals that enter rivers, ponds and lakes from fields. In addition, waste from industrial enterprises is dumped into the water. Unfortunately, the state does not conduct a special fight against such pests in human form. At this rate, there is every reason to believe that humanity will soon be left without fish at all.
Fans of world records will be interested to know about the size of the largest catfish ever caught by a person, because it is no secret that this river inhabitant is second in size only to such a representative of the sturgeon as the beluga, which is also found in Russian reservoirs. At the same time, the mustachioed predator can be found not only in large rivers and lakes of the Eurasian continent, but also in almost all other regions of the planet, albeit not on such a scale.
In terms of size, the catfish is second only to the beluga Habitat and potential threat
The favorite habitat of fish with large mustaches is warm waters, so its largest populations can be observed in the central and southern parts of Eurasia. A seemingly harmless river dweller, catfish is not as simple as it seems and, unfortunately, there are often situations when it is not people who hunt this fish, which has tasty white meat, but vice versa.
Scientists have been observing this unique animal for a long time, as a result of which they were able to compile a rather entertaining selection of the most interesting facts about them:
At the same time, you should not rush to get a catfish with your bare hands, underestimating the threat that this freshwater monster poses, because you can hear many horror stories from real life, the main participant of which was the catfish.
The danger of large representatives
It must be admitted that small specimens of these fish do not pose a serious danger to humans, like representatives of the catfish family, which are of medium size. However, this cannot be said about huge catfish, whose mass exceeds 100 kilograms.
Very large individuals can pose a danger to humans For example, in a small Turkish settlement back in 1970, fishermen managed to catch a two-meter monster, in whose womb it was not a small fish, but the corpse of a woman who had disappeared several days before. After some time, two more people disappeared in the same area, and residents of nearby villages rushed to blame the giant catfish living at the bottom of the reservoir for the incident.
But despite the fact that cases of human remains being found in fish stomachs are not isolated, some scientists are quite skeptical about the theory of cannibal catfishes hunting those who decide to swim in the depths. As for the corpses in the womb of the fish, the researchers suggested that the catfish ate them as carrion, that is, in fact, we are talking about drowned people, and not at all about the victims of a river predator.
Famous world records
Despite the fact that catching a big catfish from the river is not so easy, as it might seem initially, some professional fishermen and ordinary amateurs still managed to do this.
Top 10 river giants
Every year people manage to set new records in the unofficial ranking “The largest catfish caught.” Currently, this list includes the following ten unique specimens, which belong to the heaviest weight category:
- The absolute record holder today is a giant monster caught back in the 19th century in the waters of the famous Lake Issyk-Kul, which at that time was part of the possession of the Russian Empire. Surprisingly, the weight of the largest catfish caught in Russia was as much as 347 kilograms, while its length exceeded 4 meters. In honor of the giant, local residents decided to erect a small arch in the shape of fish jaws, of which not the slightest trace remains today.
The largest catfish reached 4 meters in size - Second in the top “Most big catfish in the world" became a giant from the Polish Lake Oder, with the same length as the previous specimen, but one and a half times less weight, amounting to 200 kg. Besides heavy weight, this catfish attracted the attention of researchers with two more characteristic features, the first of which indicated the impressive age of the animal (over 100 years), while the second was that a corpse was discovered in its belly. However, after all the relevant tests were carried out, it was found that the deceased first choked and only then was swallowed by a huge predator.
- “Bronze” went to another of the largest catfish in Russia, which was pulled out from the Seim River, located among the banks of the Kursk region. This fish also weighed 200 kilograms, but its height only slightly exceeded the 3-meter mark. The story of the capture is also surprising, because the fishermen managed to shoot the fish underwater with a harpoon, but they were unable to raise it to the surface, as a result of which they had to call a local tractor driver and his equipment for help.
The weight of a huge catfish can reach 200 kg or more - Another mustachioed giant, whose distinctive feature is its white color, was caught from the waters of the Mekong in exotic Thailand. At that time (2009), a fish weighing 275 kilos and more than two meters in length was considered the largest in the world, which allowed it to get into the famous Guinness Book of Records, however, it was not possible to save the life of this record holder, since he could not withstand the stress and died almost immediately after the measurements.
- In 2007, in the Kazakh Il River, local fishermen were lucky enough to catch a truly large fish weighing 130 kilograms. It is noteworthy that the length of the predator, just like that of the Mekong albino, reached 2.7 meters.
- Another record was set by Russian sports fishing enthusiast Yuri Grisendi, who went to explore the river waters of France. As a result, the gambling tourist managed to pull a huge fish weighing 120 kilos and more than two and a half meters long onto the bank of the Rhone River.
A huge catfish weighing 120 kg was caught in France - An Italian named Godi managed to pull out a catfish of the same length, although the weight of this animal was only 113 kilograms. It is difficult to predict how this situation could have developed if it were not for six friends of an avid fisherman who went with him to the river for bream. As in the previous case, the prey was measured, weighed, photographed and sent back to free swimming.
- Eighth place goes to a catfish with a unique yellow color, which no one had to catch, since we are talking about an honorary resident of the central park of one of the Dutch cities. This fish, which received the funny nickname “Big Mommy” from local residents, is protected by law and all that is known about it today is its height of 2.3 meters.
- In 2009, in the Spanish River Ebro, British tourist Sheffield Chris caught another albino, whose live weight reached 88 kilos. It took half an hour to pull out the monster struggling in the river waters and, most likely, the Briton would not have been able to cope with the task if not for his faithful friends.
- The top 10 is closed by a two-meter catfish weighing 60 kilograms, which has more modest dimensions. He was caught by a Belarusian amateur fisherman, who spent an hour ensuring that the rare catch could not escape from his nets. This time the animal did not manage to go back to the bottom and the satisfied fisherman gladly let it go for roast and cutlets.
One can only guess whether all the largest specimens are included in this rating river fish that people have ever managed to catch, because many records are simply not recorded, remaining only in the memory of happy fishermen.
Fishing for catfish
There are several useful secrets, knowledge of which will help even a novice fisherman to pull a fairly large catfish ashore, quite suitable for preparing delicious stew and many other aromatic and rich dishes:
When going fishing for catfish, you need to remember how dangerous and uncontrollable this huge predator can be. And in order not to suffer from his actions, it is recommended to go fishing in a large group of friends and not swim to great depths, even if you want to look at the fish closer.
Catfish is the largest (after beluga) fish in Russia, living in fresh water bodies. Its size and weight depend on the conditions of the reservoir in which they are found and the availability of food supply. Inhabits large rivers in the south and center of the European part.
Leonid Sabaneev wrote in his fundamental work on life and fishing that the most gigantic catfish was caught in the Dnieper. Its weight was 320 kg, and its body length exceeded 4 m. What can you say? Nice trophy!
Currently, reports from the fishing front no longer shine with such sensations. But this does not mean that catfish large sizes transferred. Often they just break down and leave. Or modest fishermen do not dare to post a photo with a huge fish. Meanwhile, on the Volga, two-meter individuals are not uncommon.
It is clear that this huge predator poses a danger to all other fish that are “lucky” to live with it in the same body of water. He can even be called the “King of Russian Rivers.” Even huge pikes that inadvertently caught his eye become his victims. But it attacks not only fish, but also people. They can easily bite a swimmer’s leg!
In addition to fish, catfish also have other animals in their diet. They often attack waterfowl - ducks, geese and their chickens. Even small catfish weighing 30-40 kg will attack a squirrel crossing the river. Even dogs who cannot offer any resistance to this large fish often become their victims.
Fishing out a hooked catfish can take more than an hour. They offer a lot of resistance. Often they drag an anchored boat far from the fishing spot, to the middle of the river. Many fishermen lose their nerve from fighting this giant and simply cut the line. This happens at the moment when a catfish 3-4 meters long floats to the surface for a moment and the fisherman sees the futility of his efforts and refuses to catch the trophy.
Scary rumors and facts about large catfish.
These fish are said to eat the bodies of drowned people. Hungry catfish can pull under the water a person who has swam too far from the shore. They are unlikely to be able to swallow him, but they can drag him to the bottom, where he will suffocate from lack of oxygen.
Underwater hunters note that a wounded catfish, like a wild boar, becomes very aggressive and attacks the shooter. Its bites are very sensitive and painful even through a diving suit. The predator's teeth are very sharp. In addition, the catfish can hit a person in the head, causing the latter to lose consciousness.
Now, probably, everyone has heard about cannibal catfish. In the Middle Ages, there were many reports that the bodies of small children were found in the stomach of this shark, so to speak. In our country, such rumors also take place.
A large catfish more than three meters long was caught in eastern China. Its mouth was very large, about 90 cm. Human remains were found in the stomach of this giant. Previously they thought that these people simply drowned. Most often, people are attacked by large fish that are no longer full of regular food. Having once tasted human meat, they, one might say, move “to a new level” and purposefully hunt Homo Sapiens. In Russia, as far as I know, there are no documented cases of cannibalism of these fish.
The average life expectancy of catfish is 40 years. Some sources indicate a maximum duration of more than 80 years.
Catfish is freshwater fish which can be found in bodies of water different countries peace. Surely many have heard horror stories about man-eating catfish that are just waiting for the right moment to drag their prey into the depths. But did this really happen, and what size was the largest catfish caught? Let's figure this out.
Listed in the Book of Records
The fact that catfish can reach incredibly huge sizes is evidenced by many stories. Moreover, some specimens of giant catfish caught are listed in the Guinness Book of Records. In 2005, a huge catfish was caught in the Mekong River (in Thailand). The record for the size and weight of the predator has been officially registered - representatives of the Thai authorities were even invited to do this. The length of the caught catfish was 2.7 m, and it weighed 293 kg. Due to its incredible size, this predator was listed in the Red Book as the largest catfish.
This river was previously famous for the fact that it was possible to catch quite large trophies in it. However, as the reservoir became polluted, the number of catfish in it began to decrease, and then the predator disappeared altogether. Therefore, the surprise of the local residents knew no bounds when they saw such a huge catch. They decided to give this “monster” to the environmental service, where it would be monitored, but the predator did not survive.
The largest specimens according to unconfirmed data
However, large-sized catfish have been caught in many countries and at different times. For example, catfish even larger than the Mekong catfish were caught in Russia (in Lake Issyk-Kul) back in the 19th century. Most likely, this is due to the better ecology of that time - after all, catfish love clean water and are able to reproduce only in such reservoirs. The weight of the caught catfish was 347 kg. The mouth of this fish was so large that an adult could easily fit in it. In honor of this event, an arch was erected on the lake, depicting the giant jaw of the largest catfish.
Also, according to unconfirmed data, it is known that in 1830 in Germany (on the Oder River) an even larger specimen was caught - a catfish, the weight of which, according to eyewitnesses, was 400-450 kg.
A catfish was caught in Holland, the length of which is 2.3 m. He was given the nickname “Big Mommy” - now he lives in a lake, which is located in a local park. Divers who are 100 percent sure that “Big Momma” cannot cause harm love to swim in this lake. However, everything may turn out completely differently, because there have been cases when huge catfish attacked people.
Killer catfish
Since the Middle Ages, there have been rumors that human remains were found in the stomachs of huge catfish. And in our time such information passes through. A catfish was caught in eastern China, the length of which was more than three meters. When they opened this huge predator, they found human remains inside. Most likely, these were the people who were officially considered drowned, but their bodies were never found.
There was also a case in Russia - in the Khopersky Nature Reserve, a predator dragged a deer into the depths, and in front of the huntsman, biologist and forester. But it was not possible to find and catch this catfish. Experts say that if a catfish has tried human meat at least once, then it will miss its usual food (fish, frogs, birds) and will deliberately hunt people. Killer catfish go out hunting at sunset, so you should not swim in places where catfish are found.
