Caught this 12lber at Smithville Lake today. I don't know if Smithville has White Catfish, but I think this is a Blue Catfish?
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Caught this 12lber at Smithville Lake today. I don't know if Smithville has White Catfish, but I think this is a Blue Catfish?
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Big channel cat
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that be a channel cat I believe....only blue cat...white cat is a name people use for Blue cats that are on the light color side. But they are still blue cats. Color will vary .
Added another photo. Just got confirmation it is a Channel Catfish. The eyes would be different if it was a Blue.
My uncle once caught a white catfish with red eyes. Spooky looking and wasn't fit to eat.......tasted really muddy & fishy. Never have caught another since that one.
Color is variable both on channel and blue/white cats. Look at the caudal fin. It is rounded on a channel and more squared off on a white or blue cat. The color is more a function of Water clarity.
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Channel cat. I know someone that swears there are white cats that he use to catch all the time around here. Also thinks that all the different names that people have given catfish like willow cats, fiddler cats and any other name are actual fish that are sub species of the others. Can't tell him any different that there is only channel, flathead and blues and color just varies.
That is a great eating channel cat.
what about bullhead are they realQuote:
Originally Posted by perchplucker
Lol. Yes bullheads are real. Just don't count them. Lol. Was going by MDC regulations.
Just googled it....7 recognized species of bullhead. I only thought there were about three or four.
I googled some stuff before asking and came to this link Invasive Species | Maryland Fishing Regulations – 2018 | eRegulations and the fish looked like a blue or white catfish. Turns out its just a really clean channel catfish. Normally the ones I catch at smithville are ugly with spots.
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I stand corrected....we use to call the white variety of blue catfish "Mississippi whites or white cats." MDC kept telling us no such thing...they tested DNA and they are all blue cats. Now I see there is a white cat native to the Atlantic coast that has been introduced to Missouri ....another invasive species LOL
There were some white cats in Truman way back in the day. We aren't sure who stocked them. They are a bullhead species that are native to the Atlantic and some gulf coastal streams in the southeast. The state record white cat was caught in 1991 in Truman Lake and was 7 1/4 pounds. They don't often get much over that but the world record is 22 pounds.