# Pb blue cat!



## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

Was doing pretty good catching bass and then switched things up to fish for cats and landed this beauty. Caught at a public fishing hole


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## isaiashortie (Oct 24, 2009)

man nice fish!!!


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Nice fish but that looks like a big male channel cat to me in spawning mode

Salmonid


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

Salmonid said:


> Nice fish but that looks like a big male channel cat to me in spawning mode
> 
> Salmonid


i measured and weighed the fish before i threw it back. 34 inch 28lb channel cat? why can i not stay away from the " thats not that type of fish" stuff? I have been wrong before but this was 100% a blue cat. now i will wait for someone to tell me the measurments arent right was the bass a spawning bluegill? just kidding!


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

Salmonid said:


> Nice fish but that looks like a big male channel cat to me in spawning mode
> 
> Salmonid



i agree with Mark, that looks like a monster channel cat. Which makes it even more impressive, congrats man


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## CrappieKiller (Mar 14, 2008)

Nice Channel!


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## 1badmthrfisher (Apr 4, 2005)

My vote goes for channel cat and a HUGE one at that!! Nice fish!


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## CamdenGizzard (Apr 6, 2005)

I've never caught a fish that big! Nice one!


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

My vote would be for channel cat. A HUGE channel cat.


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Salmonid said:


> Nice fish but that looks like a big male channel cat to me in spawning mode
> 
> Salmonid


???

I agree that it's a channel, but I'm floored by the fact that you think it's a male in spawning colors! In April? Really?

fishymcgoo, great fish! You lipped it. Why do you believe it was a blue?


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

the first indication that it was a blue cat was that it was blue. and the head is different. please look at the head and the color of the fish. it had a 8 inch wide chest. if you can zoom in on the fish you can tell it is a blue. what is the ohio record for a channel cat? i know the blues get huge and so do the shovels. i would be interested to know what the record is because this was almost a 30 lb fish and i didnt think the channels got that big here. i could be wrong about that though. but i aint wrong about that being a blue.lol


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## pendog66 (Mar 23, 2005)

i may be wrong but i think the state record channel is 36 pounds. But thats a channel, i have caught some extremely blue colored channels. You just cant go by color alone. But again congrats


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Wiper, as spawning /prespawn happens, Male channels get extremely dark blue/purple and the head actually starts to swell up which is easily seen in the picture with the "shoulders" as we call it. Its long length vs pot belly shows its a male as well as the pronounced overbite. As far as spawning, we are already seeing prespawn activity ( moving into the banks and wood piles) down this way on the Lower GMR and Ohio Rivers.( mid 60's water temps) Perhaps you are thinking of Flatheads which spawn at a much later time in the year? Just my opinion guys, according to my wife, isnt worth very much...
Again, a great fish and I am jealous I didnt catch it....

Salmonid


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Salmonid said:


> Wiper, as spawning /prespawn happens, Male channels get extremely dark blue/purple and the head actually starts to swell up which is easily seen in the picture with the "shoulders" as we call it. Its long length vs pot belly shows its a male as well as the pronounced overbite. As far as spawning, we are already seeing prespawn activity ( moving into the banks and wood piles) down this way on the Lower GMR and Ohio Rivers.( mid 60's water temps) Perhaps you are thinking of Flatheads which spawn at a much later time in the year? Just my opinion guys, according to my wife, isnt worth very much...
> Again, a great fish and I am jealous I didnt catch it....
> 
> Salmonid


Mark, I understand the first part, it's the second part that still has me scratching my head. Perhaps it's the pond/river/ lake variables that prejudice me. Fishing Indian and Kiser constantly, I typically run into spawning channels in...June...maybe late May. Water temps in the mid 70's at least. Maybe that's why the don't reproduce all that well in Kiser. I thought it was because of poor spawning habitat (and too much pressure.) Looks like I learned something this morning.


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## chris1162 (Mar 12, 2008)

that's a nice 15lb channel. congrats!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I'm with Mark. Looks like a male channel in spawning colors. 
Pretty tough to tell by color. 7 are channels 3 are blues 1 is a flathead. Only the 3rd picture contains blues.


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## River Anglin (Feb 18, 2008)

That's a really nice catch. I agree with you and everybody else. It's a catfish!


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

definitely looks like a spawning channel, a VERY nice channel, but not a 28 pound channel.


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

awesome pics pond!!!! one of the pics you posted was a carbon copy of the one i caught. was this one you posted a blue? and river anglin i am with you at this point big catfish, move on with life. and monster cat i didnt know you were there fishing with us yesterday. you should have said hi seeing how you had to have been close enough to see the scales when the fish was weighed. i am going to do some research and take some close up detailed pics for next time!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

The picture you picked out was a male channel from my pond. Only the three fish in the picture with the vehicles are blues. They were caught in Lake Watts Barr in Tennessee. The biggest one pictured was only 34lbs on legal scales, the other two were around 10lbs.

Here's the video for the 34lb blue. I'm couldn't get it to play but maybe it will work for you. This may show why some are questioning the weight. Beware PG13 language.


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

hopefully this ends this thread. i will keep catching big fish and you can tell me what species it is from your couch. just kidding well not for everyone and thanks pond for the awesome pics. and the belly on the one i caught was about as big as your 34lb in the pic with the vehicles. just not quite as big. can anyone tell me specifically the difference between a blue and a channel when it is not so obviouis?


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

after some research i am more dumfounded than ever. i did find out that male channels do turn a slate blue color. but i cant understand the difference in the heads. here was a no doubt channel i caught. and obviously the color is different but the head on it is different. not to mention the cat from yesterday had a huge chest on it. i love this site becuase you can gain knowledge on fishing. yesterday i would have bet the farm on blue cat. today i am up in the air. regardless yesterday was an awesome day of fishing and my youngest boy caught a homerun ball at the reds game actually it bounced 3 or 4 times and basically landed in his lap.


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## LMRsmallmouth (Jan 10, 2006)

The anal fin on a blue cat has 30+ rays and is flat, the anal fin on a channel cat has 24-29 rays and is rounded. This is a sure way to tell the difference.....just a thought


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## Sleprock (Dec 16, 2005)

Wiper Swiper said:


> Looks like I learned something this morning.


holy crap!!!!!


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Ohio record channel is 37.65 lbs.


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## bigcats28 (Jul 23, 2006)

LMRsmallmouth said:


> The anal fin on a blue cat has 30+ rays and is flat, the anal fin on a channel cat has 24-29 rays and is rounded. This is a sure way to tell the difference.....just a thought


Finally someone puts this to rest haha. LMR nailed it right on the head...only true to tell the difference by appearance is by looking at its anal fin, fellas.


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## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

for sure a channel and what a pig. i have caught male channels as early as march with swelled up heads and turning blue. The anil fin is the only way to realy tell. trust the cat guys we no what we are talking about congrats to a awesome channel. my pb channel is 16 lb and i fish for them but not as much as flatheads.


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

i have caught probably over 1000 channels and never seen one like this. however after the input about the anal fin i did some reading and yeah it was a channel. i dont fish for catfish this time of year so i havent caught a big male channel this early. biggest channel i have ever caught for sure! back to bass fishing for a bit. at least i know what they look like


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## leftfordead88 (Oct 22, 2007)

fishymcgoo said:


> and monster cat


monsterKAT... just sayin


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Sleprock said:


> holy crap!!!!!


Yes, Slep, it's still possible. Any guess on what it was? 

Ok...I'll tell you anyway! 

Channels typically spawn in June...after the bluegill. There's always a sense of urgency in the river, so if the conditions are close to ideal, they probably go earlier than later. Ponds...who knows. 

Considering that the fish in question came from a pond, and further considering that it was public water, it's hard to fathom how the habitat and the pressure allowed the fish to obtain it's behemouth status. Pay lake fish, or phantom stocker? 

Let's just suppose for a second that a surly old river fish suddenly found himself "warming" way quicker than he was use to...but, hey...if it feels good rub it!

You get the idea. The old boy ain't thinkin' straight. He's in a gold fish bowl fer cripes sake. I wouldn't expect a fish of that size to be so confused. After thinking about it (with help from Mark), I formulated his excuse. 

Fish on.


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

the fish was caught at a large pond. it was told it was an old pay lake back in the 50"s. i cant give away the location because it is so prime. lots of big bass, crappie, catfish, and bluegills bigger than my hand. it is in a very "off the beaten path location" but is open for the general public to fish. i have never seen anyone else there other than the handful of friends and family that fish there. i also have never seen any trash or firepits or anything like that. very cool for kids! this pond gets VERY litttle fishing pressure. maybe that can explain something?


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## Sleprock (Dec 16, 2005)

wiper i could not resist!!!

been reading your posts for years now and that was the most gentel(cant spell) and respectfull posts i think i ever seen you post!!

normally your posts have me laughing at the piss and viniger( cant spell)

but you have given many intellegent posts

just kinda shocked me.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

pond channel cats tend to spawn earlier in the year, especially if the pond is rather shallow. when you do catch a Blue cat you will imediately see the difference between one and the Channel you caught. when channels are in "spawn mode" they are actually "bluer" than a Blue cat and actually look Purple. heres a pic of a BIG channel i caught a few years ago. it weighed in at 17lb, was colored and shaped just like a blue but nonetheless was still a channel after checking the Anal Fin.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Here's a pic of Jack w/ a Channel that I a few years ago I'd have swore was a Blue. It was from Paint Creek.








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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

I know that it is a channel. Thanks to a few that told me about the anal fin. I have caugh blues before i just didnt know about the anal fin and i had never caught a channel that looked like this. Thank you to everyone for the info but for gods sake i admitted i was mistaken can we move on?

i fishymcgoo acknowledge that the fish i posted is a channel


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

Wow man, we were just showing some examples of how different channel cats can look. I don't think the posts were even directed at specifically you.


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

H2O Mellon said:


> Wow man, we were just showing some examples of how different channel cats can look. I don't think the posts were even directed at specifically you.


my post wasnt directed at anyone either. i just wanted to thank everyone for the info and make it clear that i do know that fish was a channel now. just seems like beating a dead horse h2 that fish looks more blue than the one i caught. nice fish! very easy to identify now with the fin now.


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## Wiper Swiper (May 24, 2005)

Watermellon, that's the ugliest channel cat I've ever seen. It should have been killed based on it's ugliness! 

mcgoo, regardless of the _"viniger,"_ I enjoy your posts. (apologizes, slep.  )

You do it on your own, your kids are out there with you, and their smiles cancel out the old man's over-thinking the equation!

(P.S.-- I've got 10 pictures of nice cats that I called blues before I was educated on the fact that channels turn purple!)


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## fishymcgoo (Jul 20, 2005)

thanks wiper! that was the best post on this whole thread i love the part about me overthinking. so true! the 10 pics makes me feel better about my monster BLUE channel


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