Primarily a “big river” fish species, the Blue Catfish is found almost exclusively in the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.Adults are among our largest freshwater fishes; fish weighing almost 100 pounds have been taken from the lower reaches of the Missouri River.
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What kind of catfish are in the Mississippi River?
You can hook three different Catfish species in the vast Mississippi River – Channel, Flathead, and Blue Catfish. Flatheads and Blues are usually the largest of the three. They can easily reach 30+ inches and weigh anywhere from 20–100 or more pounds. Channel Cats are usually in the 20-inch and 30-pound ballpark.
Where are blue catfish located?
Blue catfish are native to the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Rio Grande river basins. Blue catfish have been stocked as a recreational catch in almost 20 states. During the 1970s and 1980s, they were introduced to the James, Rappahannock, and York river basins in Virginia as a new recreational fishery.
What water do blue catfish live in?
freshwater rivers
Blue catfish live primarily in swift, deep, freshwater rivers and channels. However, they have a high tolerance for a variety of habitats, water conditions and salinity levels. They are bottom-dwellers that prefer large rivers with deep channels, swift currents and sandy bottoms.
What state has the biggest blue catfish?
Buggs Island Lake Virginia World Record Blue Catfish. The current Buggs Island 143 pound fish was certified as a record catfish and broke the existing world record by an impressive thirteen pounds and also certifies as the new Virginia state record blue catfish.
What’s the biggest catfish ever caught in Mississippi?
blue catfish
Catfish, especially blue catfish, can grow to enormous sizes. The Mississippi state record is 95 pounds and was caught in the Mississippi River near Natchez.
What is the largest blue catfish ever caught?
The current world-record blue catfish recognized by the International Game Fish Association is a 143-pounder caught in June 2011 on Kerr Lake, Virginia. Trone’s fish also officially measured out at 58 inches long and had a 42 inch girth.
What is the record blue catfish?
According to the International Game Fish Assn., the 12-pound tippet record for blue catfish stands at 26 pounds, 4 ounces. That fish was caught in Florida’s Escambia River in 2018.
How old is a 30 lb blue catfish?
However, with a rapid increase in growth, they average 10 pounds at age-10, 20 pounds at age-12 and 30 pounds at age-13.
Where are blue catfish invasive?
the Chesapeake Bay
Blue catfish are considered an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay. They were introduced to several rivers on Virginia’s Western Shore decades ago. People thought that these fish, which like fresh water, would stay in those rivers. But blue catfish were able to tolerate higher salinity than anticipated.
Are blue catfish aggressive?
Estimates of total annual mortality range from 12 to 63%. Blue catfish are presently not popular with aquaculturists, but hybrids developed with channel catfish I. punctatus are often used in fee-fishing lakes because of their rapid growth and aggressive disposition.
Are there white catfish?
White catfish, Ameiurus catus, are native to Atlantic slope streams from New York to Florida, and Gulf coast drainages in Alabama and Mississippi. They’re more tolerant of brackish water than other catfish species, and are often found right in the mouth of coastal rivers.
Which state has the best catfish to eat?
10 Best States for Catfishing
- Alabama tops the list of must-visit states for many big-cat aficionados.
- Arkansas waters are stocked with millions of catfish annually by the state Game and Fish Commission (AGFC).
- Illinois doesn’t get the attention it deserves as a top destination for catfishing.
What is the biggest fish ever caught in the Mississippi River?
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri fisherman reeled in the catch of a lifetime — a 112-pound monster catfish. Wade Kaminski fought for eight minutes to land the 5-foot-long blue catfish, KSDK reported.
Can a catfish eat a human?
You’ve probably heard stories that say they can. So we asked Heiko Bleher, who’s seen some giant catfish in his time… No, despite what you may have heard, there aren’t. This is a myth, along with age-old claims that giant anacondas or piranhas eat men.
Is a blue catfish the same as a channel catfish?
The best way to tell the difference between the two species is the ray count on the anal fin. Typically, blue catfish have 30 plus anal rays vs. the channel catfish with 29 or less.The front edge of a blue catfish’s anal fin is usually squared off whereas the channel catfish anal fish is usually rounded.
What is the best blue catfish bait?
shad
Blue catfish eat almost anything, but the best catfish bait for this fish is a fresh shad or skipjack. Always use fresh baits as this can catch dozens of large blues daily. Shad can be hooked whole, or you may cut them into small chunks.
What is the best eating catfish?
The diet and habitat of the flathead catfish is part of the reason it tastes so good. The meat is firm, but less firm than the channel and blue, and is much more flaky. It almost melts in your mouth when you eat it. Flathead are by far the best catfish I have ever eaten.
Why are catfish more active at night?
Catfish tend to be found in shallower water at night because in part their forage moves shallower. However, catfish are still active during the day; they’re just found in deeper water.
How old is a 24 inch catfish?
It takes 5-7 years for flatheads to get to about 30 inches in many river systems. However, in the Three Rivers system it takes 15 years for a flathead to reach 24 inches. A big trophy flathead may be 20-30 years old, up to about 35, in the Three Rivers system.”
What state has the biggest catfish?
Opportunistic feeders, flathead catfish will munch on anything from oysters to live bluegills. I found certified records for flathead catfish in 36 out of 50 states in the US.
Documented State Record Flathead Catfish.
| State | Alabama |
|---|---|
| Weight | 80 lbs |
| Angler | Rick Conner |
| Lake | Alabama River |
| Year | 1986 |
