Wels Catfish in the UK

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

The wels catfish (Silurus glanis) is the biggest freshwater fish in Britain, and the official record stands at 150lb 3oz. Some pages, including the Canal & River Trust’s species page, still quote 62lb, because the record list only reopened to wels in 2024.

The short answer for catfish UK anglers: wels are an introduced, non-native species that live almost entirely in permitted still-water fisheries. You can fish for them with a rod licence and the fishery’s permission. You cannot move them to another water or release them into the wild.

Below: identification, where they live, how big they grow, the British record, the law, and how to fish for and handle them.

How to Identify a Wels Catfish

Some guides say wels have rows of sharp teeth. Others say they have no teeth at all. Neither is right, and the real answer decides what hooklink you tie.

The Canal & River Trust lists the key marks:

Six barbels: two long ones on the upper jaw and four shorter ones on the lower jaw.
Colour: dark brown to black on the back, fading to a soft yellow or white belly.
A very long anal fin: usually about half the body length, ending at the base of the tail fin.

Add a broad, flat head, a wide mouth and small eyes.

The Catfish Conservation Group (CCG) settles the teeth question. Wels have no sharp cutting teeth like pike or zander, but very abrasive pads on both jaws and crushing pads at the back of the throat. Those pads wear through a weak hooklink (see the tackle section below).

Wels find prey by smell and vibration, using their barbels and the Weberian apparatus, which amplifies vibration.

Feature	Wels catfish	Pike	Zander
Mouth	Abrasive jaw pads, no cutting teeth	Sharp teeth	Sharp teeth, large fangs
Barbels	Six	None	None
Fins	Very long anal fin, tiny dorsal fin	Dorsal fin set far back near the tail	Two dorsal fins, the first spiny
Body	Broad flat head, long tapering body	Long, torpedo shape	Perch-like, slim
Typical UK water	Permitted still waters	Rivers, lakes, canals	Slow rivers, canals, some still waters

For other species, including perch, see our UK fish identification guide. If it has whiskers and an anal fin that runs almost to the tail, it is a wels.

Where Wels Catfish Live in the UK: Still Waters, Not Rivers

Many guides say wels live in “slow rivers and lakes”. In the UK, that sends you to the wrong water: here the wels catfish is a still-water fish.

The CCG records that the Duke of Bedford stocked about 70 fish into the Woburn Abbey lakes in Bedfordshire more than 130 years ago, and the Environment Agency says wels first arrived in England in the 19th century. Imports rose sharply in the late 1990s, mostly from Croatia. The CCG now counts catfish waters in nearly every county in England.

Keeping wels needs a permit, and in England the Environment Agency grants one only to carefully assessed sites. The CCG notes that flood-plain and on-line waters (lakes connected to a river) will not get permission. Treat any report of wels in a river as an escape, not a fishery to plan a trip around (the legal detail is in the law section below).

Within a lake, wels prefer murky water and feed mainly at night, according to the Canal & River Trust.

Location affects size too. The CCG says southern fisheries get a feeding year 2 to 3 months longer than northern ones, which helps explain why southern waters tend to produce the bigger fish.

If you want a wels, look for a still-water fishery that advertises catfish stock, and check with the fishery before you travel.

How Big Do Catfish Get in the UK?

A typical UK wels puts on only 1 to 2lb a year, according to the CCG. The Canal & River Trust says the species can live for up to 90 years (the 30-year lifespan quoted elsewhere is unsourced). At that growth rate, a big fish is an old fish.

The CCG grades annual growth like this:

Growth per year	CCG rating
1 to 2lb	Average
3 to 4lb	Above average
More than 4lb	Excellent

Continental fish are on another scale. The Trust says wels in Europe can reach 674lb, while cooler water and limited food keep UK fish much smaller. Even so, the biggest catfish UK waters have produced is the 150lb 3oz (68.12kg) British record. The British record zander, on the same BRFC list (June 2026), is 21lb 5oz.

No primary source gives an average weight for UK wels, so treat any quoted average with caution. Fisheries hold a spread of sizes, and the fishery itself is the best guide to what its water holds.

The British Record Wels Catfish (and Why Older Figures Are Wrong)

Search for the British record wels and you will find 62lb, “over 140lb” and more. Only one figure is official.

The British record wels catfish is 150lb 3oz, caught by Shaun Ing at Chigborough Farm and Fisheries, Maldon, Essex, on 28 September 2024. The British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee (BRFC) accepted the claim and announced it on 30 January 2025.

Weight	Captor	Venue	Date caught
150lb 3oz	Shaun Ing	Chigborough Farm and Fisheries, Essex	28 September 2024

As at the BRFC Coarse Fish Records list of 10 June 2026, that fish still holds the record. For any later claim, check the Angling Trust BRFC record announcement and the current BRFC coarse list.

The older numbers come from before the listing was reinstated. The BRFC agreed to restore wels on 9 November 2023, after consulting the CCG, and announced it on 2 February 2024. Only fish caught by fair angling in the UK on or after 9 November 2023 count, and the minimum qualifying weight is 130lb.

The Canal & River Trust page still prints a 62lb record from January 2015. Fish over 100lb had been reported before then, but were not accepted because they came from illegally introduced stock.

If a page gives a British record catfish weight other than 150lb 3oz, it predates the January 2025 announcement.

Wels Catfish and the Law: Permits, Moving Fish and Release

One rule covers most of it. You can catch a wels, but you cannot take one anywhere else.

Catching. You need a rod fishing licence for freshwater fish in England (except the River Tweed), Wales and the Border Esk region from age 13. Licences for 13 to 16 year olds are free, under-13s need none, and fishing without one risks a fine of up to £2,500. You also need the fishery owner’s permission (GOV.UK rod licence rules; see our fishing licence guide).

Keeping. In England, the Keeping and Introduction of Fish (England and River Esk Catchment Area) Regulations 2015 list catfish (Siluriformes) as fish that may not be kept without a permit. They now carry out the old Import of Live Fish Act regime, and the Environment Agency issues the site permits. The Welsh 2014 Regulations list catfish the same way, so check with Natural Resources Wales before stocking or moving fish.

Moving fish. Introducing fish into a fishery without a permit or authorisation is illegal, with a fine of up to £50,000 (GOV.UK guidance on moving live fish, updated 31 March 2026).

Release. Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to release, or allow to escape, into the wild any animal listed in Part I of Schedule 9. “Wels (otherwise known as European catfish) Silurus glanis” is on that list. This applies in England, Wales and Scotland.

Rule	England	Wales	Scotland / NI
Rod licence	Needed from age 13	Needed from age 13	Different rules, check with your authority
Keeping permit	Needed (Environment Agency)	Needed, check with Natural Resources Wales	Check with your authority
Release into the wild	Offence (WCA 1981)	Offence (WCA 1981)	Scotland: offence (WCA 1981). NI: check with your authority

Close season. This varies by regional byelaw and type of water (GOV.UK). Check your region’s byelaws, the fishery rules and our fishing seasons guide.

If a water needs fish removed, contact the Environment Agency first; the CCG also runs a re-homing programme. Club secretaries thinking about catfish should talk to the Environment Agency before buying a single fish.

Catfish Fishing in the UK: Baits, Tackle and When to Fish

Most first-time catfish anglers are carp anglers, and the CCG warns that catfish are well known for wrecking carp reels.

Baits

Carl Nicholls, fisheries and angling manager at the Canal & River Trust, points to two approaches:

Smelly deadbaits, fished pike or zander style. See our pike deadbaiting tactics.
Large pellets, which in recent years have become the preferred method. Hair-rig a couple of 25mm-plus pellets on a hook bigger than a size 2.

Wels also scavenge and take most baits. Use livebait only where the fishery allows it.

Tackle

The CCG’s tackle guidance for catfish fishing in UK waters:

Rods: 10 to 12ft, about 3.75 to 5lb test curve, with a forgiving progressive action.
Reels: a strong, smooth clutch and a baitrunner, holding .40 to .45mm line.
Mainline: 20 to 30lb mono or 80 to 100lb braid.
Hooklink: a higher breaking strain than the mainline, and abrasion resistant because of those jaw pads.
Hooks: sized to the bait, roughly 1/0 to 6/0 for big baits.

On waters with pike, braid hooklinks get bitten through. The CCG advises against wire, which can damage mouths and barbels, so use a heavy abrasion-resistant hooklink and follow the fishery’s rules.

For a first go, the CCG suggests small to medium cats on a well-stocked water, using your heaviest pike deadbait-style rod: a natural crossover if you already fish for predators.

When and where

Fish dusk and into the night in the warm months, where the fishery allows night fishing, because wels feed mainly after dark. Finding them is often the hard part: summer fish roam, and winter fish hold in the deepest areas.

Compared with pike kit, everything is heavier, especially the clutch and hooklink.

Landing and Handling a Wels Catfish Safely

Four pieces of kit decide whether a wels goes back in good condition. Sort them before you cast. Based on the CCG’s landing and handling advice:

Landing net: 50 inch arms is the minimum, and about 60 inch is best.
Unhooking mat: the largest well-padded mat you can get. Most UK fisheries require one anyway, so check the rules.
Weigh sling: a purpose-made catfish sling.
Tripod: for anything but small fish. The CCG says it is virtually impossible to get an accurate weight by hand-holding the scales.

In the UK, a net is the usual way to land a wels. Continental anglers often grip the lower jaw with a gloved hand, but follow your fishery’s rules on handling.

Keep the fish wet and return it quickly to the same water, never to any other (see the law section above). If your venue’s mats or nets are too small for its catfish, bring your own or choose another water.

Frequently asked questions

Where can you catch wels catfish in the UK?

In permitted still-water fisheries. The CCG says there are catfish waters in nearly every county in England, and southern waters benefit from a longer feeding year. Chigborough Farm and Fisheries in Essex produced the British record, and Marsworth Reservoir at Tring holds a small, legally introduced population. Check with the fishery before you travel.

Can you take a wels catfish home to eat?

Only if the fishery's rules allow it, so ask before you fish. Whatever a venue's policy on taking fish, you cannot move a live wels without a permit or release one elsewhere (see the law section above). If a water wants fish removed, contact the Environment Agency first or the CCG re-homing scheme.

Do wels catfish breed in UK waters?

According to the CCG, wels spawn in spring and early summer once the water holds a steady 20C, nesting among tree roots or underwater plants. A female lays up to 100,000 sticky eggs of about 3mm, which hatch in under five days. Cooler UK water generally makes spawning less reliable than on the continent.

Do wels catfish harm other fish?

Views differ. The CCG, an angler group, says no harm to other UK fish has been demonstrated, and that only a handful of mostly commercial waters have become cat-dominated. It wants long-term study. The Environment Agency takes a precautionary view, because wels are predators and non-native fish can carry exotic parasites and diseases. Hence the rules in the law section above.