By Maja Kunert
Published on •Updated
In the instant when Oliver Schäfer from North Rhine-Westphalia feels what is tugging at the other end of the line, he quickly realises: this is no ordinary fish. The 34-year-old is taking part in a predator-fishing tournament in Rybnik in Poland, together with his Dutch angling partner Kevin Cremers.
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According to the BILD newspaper, 70 teams with around 150 anglers from all over Europe competed there on 10 and 11 October. Schäfer and Cremers had travelled there with a clear goal. As Schäfer told the paper, they were fishing with a special rod for large catfish and a rubber lure.
He only saw how enormous his opponent really was when the fish broke the surface for the first time. The fight lasted more than 30 minutes. Cremers kept the boat on course against the wind, while Schäfer held on.
Measured and released again
On the shore, the jury measured the animal: 292 centimetres. The catfish was then returned to the lake, as required by the rules of the tournament. Schäfer told BILD the fish are brought ashore on a tarpaulin so that their protective slime layer is not damaged.
The catch was not enough to win the tournament, however. The overall points total was decisive. According to the Berliner Zeitung and the results list of the PZW Katowice anglers’ association, the duo took second place with 28,930 points.
Alongside the catfish, there are of course other impressive specimens in the water. On Instagram, Schäfer reports that he and Cremers specifically targeted zander at sunrise. Their catches, including one fish measuring 81 centimetres, brought “plenty of points” for the overall classification.
The same fish as last year?
This catfish has history. According to media reports, participants assume it is the same animal that was caught during the tournament in October 2025. Back then, Poles Krzysztof Pyra and Adrian Gontarz also measured 292 centimetres. The Berliner Zeitung reports that the fish has not grown any longer since, but has become noticeably more robust.
The world federation IGFA records catfish records by weight; there is no official list by length. According to Welt, Italian angler Alessandro Biancardi hauled a catfish measuring 2.85 metres out of the River Po in 2023. Thanks to the record from Rybnik, the Polish city in the voivodeship of Silesia is regarded in the angling scene as the place where the longest known catfish was caught.
Even after this angling success, Schäfer says his dream of a three-metre catfish remains; he is just a hand’s breadth short, he told BILD.
Europe’s largest freshwater fish
According to Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the European catfish is the largest native freshwater fish on the continent. It can grow up to three metres long and weigh as much as 150 kilograms. It is easily recognisable by its scaleless body, broad head and six barbels, which it uses to orient itself in murky water.
Its main diet consists of fish; larger specimens occasionally prey on small water birds or mammals. For 2026, the national anglers’ federation, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the German Ichthyological Society have chosen the catfish as Fish of the Year.
A beneficiary of warming
Originally the catfish was at home mainly in the Danube and Rhine regions. Stocking programmes dating back to the 19th century and canals such as the Main-Danube Canal have opened up many additional waters for the species, the Federal Agency notes.
On top of that, the climate is on its side. As a warm-loving species, the catfish benefits from rising water temperatures. Biologist Jürgen Geist told the magazine Focus that populations are increasing significantly, both in terms of their distribution and their density. Cold-loving species such as brown trout, on the other hand, are among the losers.
Warm water also plays a role in Rybnik. The reservoir there serves as a cooling basin for a coal-fired power plant, and the heated water flows back into the lake. Because fish feed more actively at higher temperatures, catfish, carp and zander grow faster there, according to angler Oliver Schäfer.
Experts say the animals pose little danger to humans. They have only small rasping teeth, and outside the spawning season there is practically no risk. In June 2025, a catfish of around two metres in length bit several swimmers in Lake Brombach in Middle Franconia, causing minor injuries.
