Let's hope that the United States isn't the ONLY place that raises people with the brains to 'noodle'. I remember back growing up in Germany (in the very dim and distant past) when we used to go to the Isar River. If you went up on one of the dams in the Munich area you could look down and see Siluris glanis (Giant European Catfish) that were at least 8 feet long! I understand that most, if not all, of those monsters are gone now and that it is rare to find one over six feet.