Wels catfish

Quick facts

How to identify it

Unmistakable: a broad, flattened head with a huge mouth, tiny eyes and six barbels — two long ones on the upper jaw and four short ones under the chin. The body is elongated and scaleless, covered in slimy skin, mottled dark olive, brown or almost black on the back with a pale, marbled belly. The dorsal fin is tiny, while the anal fin runs along more than half the body and joins the small rounded tail. Only the black bullhead looks similar, but it is small, has eight barbels and a sharp spine in each pectoral fin, which the wels lacks.

Where it lives

Wels are fish of big, warm lowland rivers, their backwaters and oxbows, canals, gravel pits, reservoirs and large lakes. Native to the Danube, Dnieper and Volga systems, they have been introduced to the Rhône, Po, Ebro and many still waters. By day they lie up in cover: deep holes on the outside of bends, undercut banks, sunken trees, bridge piers, dam walls and the shade of moored barges. At night they patrol shallows, gravel bars and the tails of pools to hunt. They favour bottoms with structure, tolerate low oxygen and cloudy water, and prefer temperatures above 18 °C, though big fish still feed in cold water.

Season and behaviour

Wels are warm-water fish. They become active when the water passes about 12 °C in April, feed hard through May and June before spawning, and spawn in May–June (sometimes July) at 18–22 °C, when the male guards a nest in flooded vegetation or roots. Many countries close the season around spawning. Summer nights from June to September are the prime time, especially warm, humid, overcast nights and the hours after a thunderstorm; rising, coloured water after rain triggers heavy feeding. In autumn they gorge on baitfish before the cold, and October can bring the heaviest fish. In winter they gather in deep holes and feed little, though mild spells still produce catches.

Fishing methods

Bank fishing with heavy ledger or buoy rigs is the classic approach: a large bait presented on or just above the bottom, held in place with a heavy lead or fished under a float or a buoy tied off to the far bank or a bankstick. Boat anglers drift or anchor over holes, fishing baits vertically or clonking — striking a wooden clonk on the surface to draw the fish up — with a bait suspended below. Lure fishing with large soft plastics, spoons and deep-diving crankbaits works on active summer fish, particularly at dusk. Tackle must match the quarry: powerful rods of 3–5 lb test curve or heavy boat rods, big reels loaded with 0.50–0.80 mm braid, strong leaders and large, sharp single or circle hooks. Fish with a friend and land big fish by hand with a glove, never with a gaff.

Baits and lures

Big, smelly baits win. Bunches of large earthworms (dendrobaena or lobworms) are the most reliable bait for numbers of fish; dead baits such as whole bream, roach, bleak or a fillet of a fatty fish suit specimen hunting; and live baits, where the law allows, are the traditional choice for the biggest wels. Squid, leeches, halibut pellets, chicken liver and large freshwater mussels all catch. For lures, choose 15–25 cm soft shads in dark or bright contrast colours, heavy spoons and noisy crankbaits fished slowly.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Fish the warmest, darkest nights of summer — a muggy, overcast night after a storm is the best of all.
2. 02Locate the daytime holes with a sounder or a lead, then fish the shallow bars and pool tails the fish move onto after dark.
3. 03Use a clonk in short bursts, then wait — fish often come to the sound but take the bait minutes later.
4. 04Scale your tackle up, not down: 0.50–0.80 mm braid, strong swivels and sharp 6/0–10/0 hooks are not overkill for a 2 m fish.
5. 05Set the hook with a firm sweep and keep the rod low; wels use current and their bulk rather than speed.
6. 06Land big fish by hand with a glove in the lower jaw and support them horizontally for a quick photo — never hang a large wels vertically.
7. 07Fresh, coloured water after rain is a feeding signal — fish the current seams and the inside of eddies.

Where to catch Wels catfish

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Wels catfish.

• Tisa
• Rumenački kanal
• Veliki bački kanal
• Ugrinovački kanal
• Devojka sa krčagom
• Tisa
• Tresetište
• Čik
• Čonopljansko jezero
• Akumulacija Svetićevo
• Begej
• Csertői halastó
• Begej
• Kikindski Kanal
• Čik
• Kuka
• Lim
• Beli vir
• Ločka Provala
• Majdan
• Rokov potok
• Veliki bački kanal
• Akumulacija Panonija
• Kanal Zlatica
• Šodroš
• Dunav
• Kapitanski rit
• Kırkat Göleti
• Šumensko ezero
• Čik

Related species

• Black bullhead
  Ameiurus melas

  The small, spiny, invasive American catfish that bites on almost anything.

• Channel catfish
  Ictalurus punctatus

  North America's favourite catfish, now a night-feeding guest in a few European waters.

• Burbot
  Lota lota

  The only freshwater cod — a cold-water night hunter that bites best in winter.

• European eel
  Anguilla anguilla

  The night-feeding, snake-like wanderer with the strangest life cycle in fresh water.

Frequently asked questions