European Catfish: Wels Size, Records, Range and Eating

The European catfish, better known as the wels catfish, Silurus glanis, is the giant catfish of Europe's large rivers: Wikipedia gives typical adults at 1.3 to 1.6 m, and verified fish have passed 134 kg and 2.9 m. It is native to central, southern and eastern Europe and has been spread by stocking to Spain, France, Italy, the UK and beyond.

How to recognise one:

• Barbels: two long barbels on the upper jaw and four shorter ones on the lower jaw (Wikipedia)
• Fins: a very long anal fin that runs back to the tail fin, and a small, sharp dorsal fin (Wikipedia)
• Mouth: very wide, and Game and Fish describes rows of short, rough teeth like Velcro

A North American angler's reference point is the channel catfish, which has a deeply forked tail fin. The wels has a long anal fin that runs all the way back to its tail fin (Wikipedia). If you have a photo from a trip and are unsure, the FishLens app identifies it from the picture.

The heaviest wels on authentic record weighed 134.97 kg (297.6 lb). Wikipedia says it was caught in the river Po in Italy by a Hungarian angler in 2010. The longest on authentic record measured 2.92 m (9.6 ft) and came from a Polish reservoir in 2025; it was not weighed.

Much bigger numbers circulate, and they are not verified. Wikipedia describes lengths near 3 m as rare and unproven in the last century, while noting 19th-century reports from the Danube of fish up to 3 m and 200 to 250 kg, and an 1856 report of a fish over 5 m and up to 400 kg. Game and Fish mentions a potential of over 800 pounds, which no verified catch supports.

A useful rule when you see a record claim: look for a measured weight on a certified scale and a named water and year. Photos held toward the camera exaggerate size.

France, yes. Wikipedia lists France among the countries where the wels has been introduced, and one of the best-studied introduced populations is in the river Tarn, stocked in 1983. The big sport fisheries Game and Fish names are the Ebro in northern Spain (Mequinenza), the Po in Italy and the Danube in Hungary.

The United States, no. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's ecological risk screening summary rates the wels as high risk and states that it has not been reported as introduced or established in the wild in the United States. The same summary says it is listed under the Lacey Act as a federally banned species, prohibited from import and trade, and that several states also regulate possession, transport or trade.

Outside Europe, Wikipedia records wels imported to Brazil from Hungary in 1988, with fish later established in the Itajai-Acu river after floods.

Toward prey, very. Wikipedia describes a 2012 University of Toulouse study in which introduced wels in the river Tarn lunged partly out of the water to grab pigeons at the water's edge; 28% of the beaching attempts filmed caught a bird.

Toward people, attacks are rare but documented. Wikipedia lists an alleged 2009 attack on a fisherman near Gyor in Hungary and a June 2025 case in the Brombachsee in northern Bavaria, where a police officer shot a wels after it had bitten five people. Wikipedia notes that many tabloid stories about wels attacks are unverified.

If a large catfish is behaving unusually near swimmers, leave the water and tell the local authority. Bites from any large fish can cause deep wounds that need medical care.

Yes, but mostly the smaller ones. Wikipedia says the wels is generally valued as food only when young, and that the flesh is more palatable in fish under 15 kg (33 lb). Large fish build up contaminants over their long lives and are sought for sport rather than for the table.

If you keep one, follow the fish consumption advice of the country and water where you caught it, and check local rules first: in Mequinenza, Game and Fish reports that live and cut bait are illegal and anglers fish with stacks of halibut pellets instead.

Game and Fish describes the Ebro at Mequinenza as a prime destination because of the density of wels. The season it gives runs from March to November:

• Spring (March to May): more frequent bites, mostly fish of 50 to 80 pounds
• Autumn (September to November): fewer strikes but larger fish, from 100 to over 200 pounds

The method it describes is bottom fishing from a rowed-out rig: three or four 22 mm halibut pellets per line, held on the riverbed with 1 to 2 pound weights and watched with bite alarms. Weekly group catches on the trip it covers ranged from 96 to 203 pounds.