"George Shirley" > wrote

> Neither, they're naturally that big. NatGeo channel has been running a
> series on "Monster Fish." Very interesting actually. The Mekong giant
> catfish are being over fished by the locals in Nam and Thailand and,
> thusly, are endangered. Takes a long time for fish to get that big.
>
> By the way, catfish in American waters can get very large also, I've seen
> 150 lb catfish coming out of Lake Houston, a water supply lake caused by
> damming the San Jacinto river. Historically a 300 lb catfish was taken in
> the eighteen hundreds from the Mississippi River at Natchez, MS.
>
> To my taste very large catfish taste muddy naturally.

I grew up in Las Vegas, NV. Learned to scuba dive in Lake Mead in 1969.
There were tales of catfish as big as divers at the dam. Water has a
magnification factor, and nitrogen has an intoxicating effect.

Fast forward to early eighties, IIRC. The dam overflowed the spillway.
Since this was the first time in history, I went to see it. There lolling
near the surface and shore was a catfish at least five feet long.

I know they get big. Taste, I believe, has to do with their water, and how
much it flows, and their food.

Steve