The Wels Catfish grows bigger than any other freshwater European fish. In Europe they have been known to  reach 300lb ( 136kg) with a length of 13ft (4m) long. The Wels catfish was imported to Britain in 1880 but due to our cold weather goes into semi-hibernation throughout our coldest months limiting their size here compared to Europe.

Catfish are hunters and scavengers, prefering to stick close to the bottom and sniff out smelly food. In their early years they live mainly on invertebrates, but then switch to a diet of mainly fish as they grow larger. Catfish like to feed at night, legering is the method to use, with either live or dead coarse fish as bait. They are also attracted to smelly baits such as squid, lobworms or even liver. They are awesome fighters, you may find you will need both a strong rod and arms to land one of these fish.