Probably closer to the truth as anything. If someone said they saw a catfish the size of a battleship it would obviously an exaggeration of size. Seeing a 150 lb fish up close is probably something that generates a “big fish” story. Are we talking about a Peel P50 or a Duesenberg Model J.
I heard about a big beast called General Sherman by the locals, it was the biggest, meanest catfish ever to exist.
They said that it was finally fished by a man called Homer, apparently he was 2 meters tall and hair as red as the very fires of hell…