I personally was wading in the LRR this year, and almost stepped on a 3ft catfish. He was so still, I was standing directly over him and I first thought it was a trout, then I looked closer and saw his whiskers and was shocked that it was a catfish. I was wading at the very end of JFK park(furthest from the darn, but still in the park). He was so docile I reached down and was going to grab him by the tail, but as I was doing it I brushed him on the tail and off he swam. So yes, confirmed catfish all the way to JFK park. It was a Bluechannel Catfish. And he may not have been 3ft but he was good sized.
