Catfish report from Bayou Meto

Blue cats are also called fultons, humps, silvers by the riverrats

Flathead - blunt tail with no V, ugly mud color
Channel - distinct V tail, spots along the side
Blue - a rounded V tail, more like a U-shape, long flat anal fin

I see all three kinds in that 1st pic, take note of the diff in the tail between that big fish on its side (blue) and the one to its right (channel) and the diff in their anal fins

I argue with some locals ,they call the Blue Catfish by Humpback Blues, Fultons or Whites . The Arkansas River has a lot of Blues as well as Channel Cats and Flatheads. I have fished for catfish for years and lots of folks have different names for each type. Some even call Channels ''Blue Channels '':rolleyes: Sometimes male Channel cat after spawning will be all head ,skinny,and dark blue in color.Some locals call the ''****** Lip Blues.
I've even fished commercially some .:D There is a Catfish that is a White cat ,but I never saw any here. They live mostly up north and are generally not very large. We also have Bullheads and Madtoms which are small Catfish . Some folks call Yellow or Brown Bullheads ''Mudcats'' . They are lower in table quality.

whites are a seperate group than blues or channels



http://myfwc.com/fishing/Fishes/catfish.html

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

Guys you are correct on the darker fish, they look like Channel. But the white looking ones are actually Blues which get bigger than Channels. The Arkansas and anything connected are full of both kinds. The Flatheads are my favorite though . I thought the bayou was polluted with dixoin ? The thing runs through some of my relatives farm upstream around Lonoke.
That other picture has some nice flatheads too.

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Nimrod is correct. I see three different species of catfish there. Channel,Blue,Flathead.

Good lookin slew of fish...

The bayou runs through my family's land around lonoke as well. It was polluted with dioxin, but the game and fish says its clear downstream of the highway. Talked to a buddy of mine who has dealt with waste treatments and bayou meto in particular, he said that the state tests those waters something like once a month at different places for contaminants and so forth. But don't know if i'm quite ready to start fishin it yet, I'll just keep cleanin up ducks during season...