WhatsApp photo causes excitement: Did an angler really pull a giant catfish out of the lake?

Created: 08/16/2022, 17:22

By: Matthias Schuldt

A professional sports angler pulled this giant catfish from the Neckar in 2012, which was 2.16 meters long.

Was a specimen that was 20 centimeters longer pulled from the Edersee at the Rehbach?

©Merkel/dpa/Archive

A photo is doing the rounds in WhatsApp groups around the Edersee: it shows a man crouching in the water, holding a very large catfish at the rear end.

Edersee - The animal has its substantial maw wide open, including the distinctive long barbels on the sides of the mouth.

It is a night shot, as reported by hna.de.

The picture is accompanied by the statement that this 2.36 meter long catfish was said to have been caught at the Rehbach.

To anticipate: Despite intensive inquiries from one contact to the next, the editors were unable to locate the man pictured or the photographer, or to clarify the image rights.

Edersee connoisseurs consider catching a large catfish to be realistic

Two questions cannot be definitively answered: Is the photo genuine?

If so, did it also come from the Rehbach?

Some details cast doubt on the authenticity of the image.

But if it's a montage, if it's very good and worked out with a lot of effort, local photo editing experts judge it.

Whether – regardless of this – the location is correct cannot be assessed on the basis of the picture alone.

But: Two experts from the district think it is realistic that a two-meter-long "catfish" - as the river catfish is also called - is caught on the Edersee.

A 1.60 meter long animal was the subject of a newspaper report in 2017.

Catfish population in the Edersee is increasing

"There are catfish in the Edersee, and their population is increasing," says fish master Andreas Rohn from the Edersee interest group, which issues the fishing licenses.

"Sizes between one and two meters are possible," he adds.

Nevertheless, he is skeptical: "Photographed with a wide angle, the animals often appear longer than they are."

Boris Wagner from Lichtenfels Goddelsheim does not rule out the 2.36 meters.

Tendentially rising water temperatures - additionally promoted by low water - prolong the seasonal activities of the cold-blooded animal.

Ten years of life per meter length as a rule of thumb for catfish

“The catfish start eating earlier and stop later towards autumn.

They grow faster,” explains Wagner.

He runs a fish farm and a fishing park in Goddelsheim, where customers also catch catfish.

Not the large breeding pair, but their offspring up to about a meter in length.

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"You calculate about ten years of life per meter for a catfish," explains Wagner.

A 20-year-old animal weighs up to 100 kilograms.

"Try to land that.

It squirms like a crocodile and has strength.” A blow to the abdomen could break an arm, says Wagner.

Catfish ended up in the Edersee by mistake 50 years ago

If such a catfish had been caught in the Rehbach, the angler in question would have probably targeted catfish with special equipment and special knowledge.

"They are mainly active in the twilight and at night," Boris Wagner explains his assessment.

Catfish or catfish do not occur naturally in the Eder.

According to the Edersee interest group, some of these fish were accidentally put into the Edersee in 1973 with pike and zander.

Since then they have multiplied.

15 to 25 are caught each year, says fish master Andreas Rohn.

"The animals must be taken out and not released again," he adds.

Targeted catching is made more difficult by the fact that fishing on the Edersee is only allowed from sunrise to midnight, but catfish, as a nocturnal animal, would be more effective to catch outside of this period, says Boris Wagner.

The catfish is a predatory fish that does not disdain carrion.

Fish and especially young, smaller waterfowl are among its prey, which it sucks in by jerkily opening its mouth.

Small teeth and bone scales in the gullet prevent the catfish from escaping its food again.

With this equipment, the animal can only inflict abrasions on people, experts say.

(mm/su)

Due to the formation of the Edersee, the remains of several villages sank into the floods.

Parts of the old settlements, the Edersee-Atlantis, can still be visited today.