The largest catfish in the world. Giant catfish

The common catfish (European, river) is a large freshwater fish that does not have scales. This predator, which lives in rivers and lakes, is the largest freshwater fish, second in size only to the beluga. True, it is a migratory fish that enters rivers to spawn.

Classification:

Class - Pisces (Pisces).
Family - Siluroidea (Catfish).
Order - Siluriformes (Catfish).
Species - Esox lucius (Common catfish).
Genus - Siluridae (Common catfish).

Spreading

The common catfish is common in lakes and rivers in Europe, with the exception of Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain and England. Representatives of the species are found in southern Sweden and Finland. The habitat of catfish in the south is limited to the coastal waters of the Aegean and Black Seas; in Asia it is limited by the Aral Sea. The common catfish, a photo of which you can see below, lives in rivers flowing into the Baltic, Caspian and Black Seas.

European catfish is a sedentary fish. He spends almost his entire life in the same pit, occasionally leaving it in search of food. Only during the spawning period, in the spring, does the catfish leave its home and move upstream, entering floodplain lakes and river floodplains to spawn.

The common catfish does not tolerate muddy water at all. For this reason, these fish go to the mouths of tributaries during floods - in search of clean water. For the same reason, during high water, it most often prefers to be in floodplain lakes or in the floodplain of a river.

Common catfish: structure

This fish has unusual external characteristics. It is unlikely that anyone would call him an outstanding beauty among underwater inhabitants. The huge head weighs ¼ of the total mass of the fish, the large mouth contains many sharp but small teeth, and the disproportionately small eyes are close to the back of the head. A pair of rather long mustaches is located on the upper lip, and on the chin there are two more pairs of small mustaches. This is what a common catfish looks like. The appearance of this predator is not the most attractive.

The body in the anterior part is rounded, strongly compressed in the posterior part and laterally. It smoothly transitions into the caudal fin. The dorsal fin is short, located quite close to the head. The anal, longer fin is connected to the caudal fin. At first glance, it seems that the huge one smoothly turns into a tail.

Color

Catfish size

At the beginning of this article, we already said that the common catfish is a large fish, but many of our readers have no idea how big it is. Often the body length reaches four meters, and the weight is one hundred and eighty kilograms. And this is not the limit. There are much larger specimens. Catfish grow very quickly in the first five to six years. Gradually their growth slows down, and by the age of eight the fish weighs seventeen kilograms.

Instances with maximum weight are extremely rare. For example, in the nineteenth century, giants were recorded that were more than three meters long and weighed 220 kg. In 1856, a common catfish weighing about 400 kg and almost five meters long was caught on the Dnieper.

Currently, specimens no more than 1.6 meters long are more common. For modern fishermen, the opportunity to catch a fish one and a half meters long and weighing more than twenty kilograms is considered a great joy and great success. The maximum weight of individuals of this species recorded in our time is a length of 2.78 meters and a weight of 144 kg.

Lifestyle

The common catfish is a well-known homebody: it does not migrate from its usual habitat. Near it, as a rule, there are spawning and feeding areas. These fish prefer a solitary lifestyle; they gather in large schools in cold weather. They nest in deep holes and stop feeding until spring.

The common catfish is a large predator that leads a bottom-dwelling lifestyle. He feels most comfortable in quiet areas of the reservoir. He needs holes, snags, caves.

The common catfish hunts from ambush. Hiding in a secluded place, he makes a swift throw and catches his prey. In shallow water, where you can see the movement of young fish, a school of catfish usually hunts. They line up against the current, open their mouths and swallow schools of small fish. During the day, the common catfish lies down in a hole or cave, and goes out to hunt only at night or at dusk. The mustache and sensitive skin help him detect the victim.

In October-November, the common catfish stops eating and lies down in holes earlier than other fish, and buries its head in the mud. Since at this time catfish do not pose any danger to other underwater inhabitants, other large fish, most often carp, are placed on them in the same pits for wintering.

Nutrition

Since the common catfish is a predator, it is quite natural that the basis of its diet is fish, of all sizes and types. Large individuals, whose weight exceeds 30 kg, are rather clumsy and clumsy creatures. They, as a rule, catch fry, which they pull into their mouths along with the water. Sometimes they, hiding in a secluded corner, lure larger fish with mustaches that resemble worms under water.

Large specimens hunt any living creature that floats on the water: waterfowl and their chicks, small animals.

In addition, catfish also eat:

crayfish;
leeches;
river mollusks;
crawling;
frogs.

Reproduction

Like most catfish, the common catfish matures very quickly and becomes sexually mature in the fourth year of life. The ability to reproduce in this species of catfish occurs when the fish reaches a size of about 60 cm and a weight of 3 kg. Such parameters are typical for a five-year-old catfish. Depending on the region in which the common catfish lives, reproduction (spawning) can occur in summer or spring.

This process requires a water temperature of +17...+20 °C. Under favorable conditions, female European catfish lay two batches of eggs - up to 30 thousand eggs. The heavier and larger the female, the more eggs she lays. The size of the eggs is no more than three millimeters.

In preparation for spawning, the female builds a nest at the bottom of a lake or river. As a rule, this is a rounded shallow hole overgrown with aquatic plants. It is located in shallow water, at a distance of at least seventy centimeters from the surface of the water.
The eggs are large and sticky, so they instantly stick to the walls and bottom of the nest.

The eggs develop very quickly - 3-10 days. Larvae first form from the eggs. Then it dissolves and fry are born, no more than 15 mm long. All this time the male guards the nest. Young animals grow very quickly, especially in southern rivers. In the first year of life, the fry grows up to 40 cm and gains about 500 grams. At the same time, there is a high percentage of death of individuals at a young age. Only 5% of the young of this species of catfish survive to one year.

Life after spawning

After breeding, catfish return to their usual habitats - deep holes. The more inaccessible and deeper the hole, the more shelters and snags there are in it, the more numerous and larger the catfish living in it. At the same time, silence and the presence of shelters in fish habitats are more important than the depth of the reservoir. Young specimens, weighing less than 15 kg, swim at a depth of three meters, usually near dams, under overhanging banks or under the roots of washed-out trees.

Common catfish: life expectancy

This fish is a long-lived fish. Scientists say they can live up to fifty years. But not every common catfish lives to such a respectable age. How long do these fish live in natural conditions? The average life expectancy is (under favorable conditions) thirty to thirty-five years.

Catching catfish

This is a very exciting process for both professional fishermen and amateurs. The best time to catch this fish is summer. A good bite occurs in calm, warm weather after sunset and before dawn. Catfish feed constantly, but not with the same greed. At dawn, before sunrise and at night, catfish bite quite actively. And if there is a slight drizzle, then fishing is possible throughout the day.

It is more profitable to throw the gear not over the pit itself, but on the path of the catfish’s night hunt. Usually he goes the same way. The best place is the riffles, which are especially rich in live bait, which can be any fish characterized by long-term vitality. According to fishermen, an excellent bait is the loach, but sometimes the catfish picks it off because the fish is skewered by the lips.

Large fish are often used as bait, although this is not entirely justified. Fish and poultry offal, leeches, fried poultry, and a piece of catfish meat are not of interest. But the smell of burnt wool or feathers is very attractive to this fish. For bait, you can use crayfish during their molting, when the shell is very soft.

Perhaps the most favorite delicacy of catfish is a frog. The most interesting method of fishing is based on this preference - shred. To catch catfish, they use donks, throwing bait into the expected feeding areas of this fish.

The rod must be tied to a stake driven into the ground or to strong branches, since the bite of even four-kilogram specimens is very sharp and the rod breaks away in a matter of seconds. Experienced fishermen claim that the bite can be so powerful that a fishing rod (test 190 g) 1.9 meters long, like a spring, flies into the air and a completely new monofilament line (0.3) breaks at the same moment.

Economic importance

The common catfish is a commercial species. Its value lies not only in its tender and fatty meat: excellent glue was obtained from this fish, and in ancient times, washed catfish skin was used as “glass” in windows. In the thirties of the last century, its catches in some reservoirs reached 4.2 thousand tons, but today they have decreased significantly.

Security status

Unfortunately, due to uncontrolled fishing, including poaching, the number of common catfish has decreased almost everywhere. In many reservoirs where it previously lived in large quantities, the catfish has become a rare guest. In this regard, in many regions it is under protection. At the edges of its range, catfish are especially rare; for example, in Karelia in 1995 it was listed in the Red Book as an endangered rare species.

Quiet! Don’t be alarmed - in our cozy backwater there is a hunt for river monsters that have received the title of the largest catfish. The Guinness Book of Records can barely keep up with the entries. Meet Big Momma and all, all, all.

Catching giants is not an easy task; there are two scenarios for the development of events: either you manage to pull the miracle Yudo onto land, or you yourself go to feed the fish (remember the saga “The Old Man and the Sea”). By the way, the average catfish weighs 50 kg; the catch can enrich a family’s diet for two to three weeks.

Although fishing has long ceased to be the main source of food, for most men it is a favorite hobby, entertainment, and passion. And if you catch a catfish, there will be enough stories about the grandiose catch to last a lifetime. Surely, every year the stories will acquire new details, and the fish will gain weight.

We will not tell tales, but look the facts in the face. So, we present the top 5 impressive freshwater species.

A catfish caught in the Oder River in Germany weighed more than 400 kg. This is what eyewitnesses said. It happened almost 200 years ago, more precisely in 1830, it is no longer possible to verify. A similar story happened in Uzbekistan; it seems that a 430-kilogram giant was recently caught there. But the record was not verified, and there are no documents either. Alas, as they say, without a piece of paper you are a bug.
In second place is an inhabitant of Lake Issyk Kul, who weighed 347 kg before being caught. The length of the fish exceeded 4 m, and a short man could fit in its open mouth. This 19th century record is evidenced by an original monument near the lake in the shape of huge catfish jaws. The monument seems to hint: there are fish here. Well, or it was, I bet.
The third largest beauty was caught in Thailand. The Mekong River has long been famous for its “fish like this,” but the reservoir began to be polluted and the fish became smaller. Therefore, the fisherman had no limits for joy: the river inhabitant weighed 292 kg. This is the largest catfish, the Guinness Book of Records has successfully recorded it in its annals. No one has yet been able to repeat the official result since 2005.
The largest living catfish is Big Mom. The fish became a captive and now lives in a national park in Holland. They take care of the mother, because poachers are so eager to get her into their nets.
Leeches and frogs, small fish are the standard food of catfish. But a predator from Turkey swallowed a man. The body of a woman was discovered during an autopsy of the monster in 1970.

There are also giants in our river expanses. For example, a catfish weighing 100 kg was shot near Dnepropetrovsk. It may not be the largest catfish - a Guinness record - but also a pleasant cargo.

It is gratifying that the big fish of the world lives in almost all countries of the world. Ichthyologists associate the trend towards shredding records with environmental deterioration.

Catfish is one of the largest predators among fish. More than this in freshwater bodies, only representatives of sturgeon fish are found, the fishing of which is currently prohibited. What size and weight is the largest catfish in the world, and what trophies do happy fishermen take with them?

The largest catfish according to Guinness

The Guinness Book of Records recorded the capture of the largest specimen in the spring of 2011. The length of the fish turned out to be 250 centimeters, and the weight was 114 kilos. You can see this freshwater giant in the photo. Such a wonderful catch went to the Italian Robert Godi, who fished for the fish for almost an hour. And he did this not alone, but with the help of several adult men. This largest catfish in the world is also the largest recorded freshwater predator in Europe.

The previous record holder - one of the largest catfish - was caught shortly before the previous trophy was caught. The weight of the fish shown in the photo was 111 kg, which is only 3 kilos less than the real world record. This giant fish was caught in Spain on the Ebro River. But unlike the trophy caught in the spring, which it was decided to release into the wild, this trophy was not lucky.

The largest catfish were caught about a century ago. Predatory fish that live in Eurasian reservoirs can reach a length of up to 5 meters, and a weight of up to 300 kilograms or more. In Uzbekistan, about 100 years ago, a catfish weighing 430 kilograms was caught. And in the first half of the 19th century, a fish weighing 400 kilograms was caught. The length of these giants was just 5 meters, but there are no facts confirming these cases of catching.

Other records

Representatives of catfish can reach very large sizes. Young fish are often caught, the weight of which is comparable to the weight of a trophy pike. But more and more anglers are only trying to take photos and videos of their trophy, and then release the fish back. If the largest specimen weighed 114 kilograms, then other trophies weigh slightly less:

In 1998, an individual weighing 110 kilograms was caught on the Rena River in France. At the same time, its length was a little more than 2.5 meters. You can see the photo below;
On the same river in 2009, fishing ended with a monster weighing 120 kilograms being pulled out of the water. This is more than the current record, but the capture was not recorded. Therefore, it cannot be said that this miracle fish really weighed that much. According to some sources, the length of the fish was 255 centimeters;
There, in 2005, fishing ended with the capture of a specimen weighing 106 kilograms. The length of the trophy is 241 centimeters. occurred on live bait. In the photo you can see the happy faces of the fishermen;
In 2008, a representative of catfish weighing 96 kg and 238 centimeters was caught in Germany. It is the largest predator that has been caught in German waters;
A year earlier, a Russian fisherman caught a giant weighing 95 kg and 236 centimeters long in Germany;
In 2004, fishing ended with the capture of a giant weighing 83 kilos and 217 centimeters;
On the Ili River in Kazakhstan (2007), a woman caught a fish measuring 274 centimeters;
A German tourist in Kazakhstan caught a giant weighing 130 kilos and measuring 2.69 meters (2004);
On a river called Ili, a real giant weighing 96 kilos and 2.72 meters was caught;
A large freshwater predator was captured on the Syrdarya River. Its mass was 110 kilos, its size was 2.44 meters.

There are many known cases of catching truly gigantic specimens, the mass of which is one and a half times the weight of the fish from the Guinness World Record. However, each of these cases was not recorded. And it is not possible to determine the mass and length of a fish from photographs or videos. In Russia, the largest catfish are found only in deep rivers, and the weight of such fish rarely exceeds 50 kilograms. Below is a video about the capture of a large catfish in Russia.

Russian records

In Russia for many years there have been no cases of catching representatives of ichthyofauna of gigantic size. All record specimens were caught in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is information about them in printed sources. Thus, the largest trophy from the catfish family was caught 2 centuries ago. He weighed 347 kilos and measured 4.5 meters. Since then, no other predators of this size have been caught.

Currently, anglers from all over the country are hunting for the giants. But they are constantly haunted by failure. The most common trophies are fish from 30-40 kilos. But in the European part of the country, there are known cases of catching quite large individuals - about 70-80 kg. It is very difficult to fish such giants out of the water. It is unlikely that one angler can handle the fish. You will need at least a pair of strong male hands.

The fact that there are few large representatives of the ichthyofauna in Russia is influenced by several factors:

Poor environmental conditions;
Active activity of poachers;
Unfavorable climate: reservoirs freeze heavily in winter;
Decline in the population of fish that catfish feed on.

All this greatly affects the size of the fish. Most often, the largest specimens are found in places forgotten by man. This suggests that human activity is the main factor influencing the growth and reproduction of fish.

In my old blog I had an entry “the largest catfish in the world in photographs” and it was very popular. It was there and gone, and I decided that I needed to restore it in the new blog, besides, during this time, probably someone caught an even larger catfish! I’m a big guy myself, I have a lot of posts on this topic on my blog. My record catfish weigh 20 kg, although of course ours has much larger specimens. I myself have been bitten by catfish that are clearly larger than 20 kg, but they cut off the layers, so my modest record remains 20 kg.

But there are many mustachioed hunters on our planet, and they certainly caught the record-breaking giant catfish. Here are photographs collected by different authors, to which I added my description. As you know, river catfish can reach very large sizes, and everyone who hunts them dreams of catching the biggest one. Wikipedia says that it can reach a body length of 5 meters and a weight of up to 400 kg!

Fisherman's catfish Dino Ferrari.

There is one fisherman in Italy who loves to catch catfish in the river, his name is Dino Ferrari. He has many huge record-breaking catfish, and in 2015 he caught his largest catfish. He fished with a spinning rod in the delta of the Po River, this is not a typo, the river is simply called the Po. Dino has caught large catfish in this river more than once, and now he was lucky again, he caught a catfish that was a world record! After a 40-minute struggle, the catfish was brought to the boat, where it was weighed and filmed. The length of the catfish turned out to be 2.67 meters and the weight was 127 kilograms. As they said, at that time it was a world record, this catfish.

The record catfish Dino weighs 127 kilograms, length 2.67 meters, caught in the Po River. The largest catfish.
Such a catfish can even swallow a person; it’s good that they don’t feed on people...

Catfish caught by Roberto Godi.

Another big catfish caught in the same Po River was caught by Roberto Godi. He caught a large live bream, the fight lasted 45 minutes, after which the catfish was pulled ashore, weighed and photographed. Italian fishermen release all these catfish back into the river, so the possibility of repeated captures of the same catfish is not excluded. There are really large catfish living in the Po River and it looks like there are a lot of them there. Godi caught the catfish at 113.5 kilograms in 2010.

Catfish Godi caught in the Po River in 2010 weighed 113.5 kilograms.

Catfish caught by an underwater hunter.

But what are we all about Italy? We have soms and more in Russia, and here is direct proof of this. They say that the weight of the catfish caught by an underwater hunter in the Seim River (flows near Kursk) was 216 kg. Of course, I don’t presume to say how true this is, but he looks quite like a big catfish. Try to compare the catfish above, the weight of which is known exactly, and this giant. Do you think he looks bigger than them? Although of course in photography a lot depends on the angle.

Now it is unlikely that it will be possible to find the author of the photograph and ask him about everything in more detail. Apparently, the photo was copied from a paper original, and that original, too, guess how old it is... One thing is clear for sure, this catfish was definitely eaten, this is not Italy, in my opinion it’s already hanging dead. Although catfish can live a long time without water, this one is definitely not a survivor.

An underwater hunter caught a record catfish, size and weight unknown. The largest catfish.

Another very similar photo, apparently someone from the magazines took them again. And now I am tormented by vague doubts, both photographs are similar, maybe this is the same catfish? Although the first one looks larger, but again the angle... Also pay attention to nature, it is also the same, even the river and even the wind on the river! I fully admit that these are two different people posing with the same catfish, and on the Internet they were presented as two photographs independent of each other.

Although of course I could be wrong, they say the catfish below was caught in the Dniepropetrovsk channels and its weight is approximately 100 kg. But be that as it may, this is also a very large and record-breaking catfish.

Underwater hunters often catch the largest catfish.

Chernobyl catfish.

They say that giant radioactive catfish swim in the Pripyat River, which is located in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Of course, there are catfish in this river, and they are probably very large, but we have not heard of any special records. Although, not so long ago, one fisherman named Igor caught a catfish of impressive size from Pripyat. for its place it is quite a record.

Igor fished from a boat with a spinning rod, the bait was a medium-sized wobbler. Large catfish usually bite like a log, that is, the feeling that you just caught a log... This happened to Igor.

The bite was stupid, like a hook. Well, it began.

As a result, the struggle lasted about 40 minutes, the tackle held up and the catfish was pulled ashore. The successful fisherman said that he himself does not really like to eat fish; he gave the catfish to friends, and there was as much as 80 kilograms of meat in it! And its length was 2.39 meters. A good record for the Pripyat River, this catfish.

The record catfish from the Pripyat River weighed 80 kilograms and 2.39 meters in length.

Catfish caught by a woman!

There are also record holders for catching catfish among women, and what a record! Sheila Penfold is already a pensioner and almost completely blind, but has not lost her zest for life. Her husband constantly took her fishing with him and eventually taught her to fish as well as himself. Sheila even got into the Guinness Book of Records with this catfish! It happened in Spain on the Ebro River. The woman struggled with the catfish for 30 minutes, and only realized how big it was when she pulled it out and touched it.

After several photographs for memory and weighing, the catfish was released back into the river; it weighed 97 kilograms. Not bad considering that Sheila is only 160 cm tall and is clearly lighter than a catfish.

Sheila Penfold and her record 97kg catfish caught in the Ebro River.

And the catfish is good and the catfish itself is good! If only there were more women like this...

And pensioners catch catfish and schoolgirls do not lag behind them. So a girl named Jessica, still in the same Ebro River, caught a catfish weighing 90 kilograms and its length was 1.5 meters. Jessica herself, of course, would not have been able to cope with such a huge catfish; her father came to her aid and pulled the catfish ashore.

Jessica's catfish 90 kilograms 1.5 meters long, caught in the Ebro River.

German catfish lover.

A man lives in Germany, his name is Vitaly, and he himself is apparently Russian, because he speaks Russian and his website about catfish is also in Russian. Here is his website about catfishing. In the summer of 2017, in mid-July, he went fishing with his friend. At first they wanted to go to the Po River, but we know that there are very large catfish there. But then they changed their minds and decided to take a ride to their old places. What these old places are and what the rivers are called is not indicated in the report, apparently they are keeping a secret...

"Where we go?" - Volodya asked.

“No, it’s fine,” I replied.

After a short time I finally managed to bring the fish to the surface. When, among the water lilies, in the light of the headlamp, a huge catfish head with whiskers sticking out like antennas finally appeared, I shouted:

“We still need help! Get up"

In short, they arrived at some not very large river, cows were still grazing on it, you can try to find one on the map. During the day I managed to catch a small catfish, a little more than a meter long, and in the evening I caught a larger one, 1.5 meters long. But the most interesting thing happened at night when a record-breaking catfish caught the fish. I still don’t understand how long this catfish took, maybe Vitaly didn’t weigh it, he clicked it and let it go. But from the photos the catfish is good, impressive!

Catfish caught by Vitaly on a small fish, weight and size unknown. The largest catfish.

Good somyara! This one apparently sucked on local cows, which is why it became so fat... The largest catfish.

There are a lot of photographs of large catfish on Vitaly’s website, men catch them all the time, here are a couple more of their trophies.

I wish I could catch such a catfish in Moksha, oh dreams, dreams...

He ate his belly, or somewhere nearby there’s a herd of cows walking around again...

Does catfish like to suck on cows at a watering hole?

The second catfish was caught in mid-September on Prokop, and again on a large green frog. At that time I had never seen fish of this size, there was no Internet, and there were no normal cameras; I took it with a film Kodak. He also weighed exactly 20 kg. It was much longer than Rybkinsky but not as fat. Read about it. I still had good bites from large catfish, but I was no longer lucky, either the layer would break, or the hook would break...

Catfish caught on Moksha in Rybkino, weight exactly 20 kilograms.

Catfish caught on Prokop, right in the pool behind it in the photo.

In the end, catfish grow very large, but now they catch mostly 100-150 kilogram specimens, these are the largest, the further south the river and the warmer it is, the greater the chance of catching a record catfish. Record catfish can swim into small rivers, like our Moksha, and I think I’ll catch it after all!…

Drawing by an unknown author, a catfish caught on a quok. The largest catfish.