The forktail cat is the most familiar catfish, to fish for and matures to over one hundered pounds. Today's contender for the U.S. record of 124 pounds is from the Alton Illinois 5 22 2005. There are 572,000,000 million lbs. of catfish raised in commercial ponds. Recent , 6 28 2005, find of the Lacantunia enigmatica catfish in Mexico is the only specimen of catfish of prehistoric origins dating back to the time of dinosaurs.

The World's heaviest catfish, was weighed at 646 pounds, caught in the Mekong River, Thailand, May 2005, and is titled as the Mekong Giant Catfish, and is being studied as an endangered species.

The channel catfish grow to 45 pounds averaging 14 years but are known to live to 20 years.

The flattened head, of the opelousas and the yellow skin denotes the 2nd largest inland water catfish. The U.S. recordbook is 98.50, pounds, Lake Palestine, Texas, in December 1998. These fish should survive 19 years and more. Most varieties of catfish from running water is very good table fare.

Catfish Stinkbait in the traditional stink bait, subsidise live bait for the preferred attractant for catfish.