Ok this is more of a Rant but,
In wisconsin there has never once been a record of a Blue catfish caught in our state.

YET

There is a Huge debate right now over Blue catfish in wisconsin in the Winnebago system "Lake Michigan drainage"
These fish are Large spawning male channels, the problem is they are Bright Blue!! but clearly Channels for anyone with any sense.

On a local fishing forum we have actually had two biologists for the DNR come on and say NO! Never! Now way are there Blues in this system. After posting pics we still point it out to them and DUH fingers in the ears.

Last week I saw a Monster Channel caught that was pushing the state record if not breaking it. I taped it out at what seemed to be 41" perhaps less but it was fighting.
They guy next to me caught it and released it saying it was a Blue.
I have never seen a Cat like that and never will again unless I get lucky.

I know convincing these people is pointless but its so frustrating.

Rounded anal fin on channels vs. squared-off (almost 90deg) anal fin for blues correct?

I've seen a lot of catfish out of the Mississippi River because some of my cousins do some commercial fishing and I have helped them out on occasion. People down here think there are blues down here too but I've never seen one yet. I've seen some really blue male channels and some odd colored channels but they've always have had the rounded anal fin.

This time of year, you see a lot of spawned out male channels, and they are often some shade of blue. I see it a lot in one of the community spots around here... Someone catches a cat, and they call it a blue cat. I correct them, and they say, "Well... how do you tell the difference?" You don't. It's a channel cat. Not that anyone seems to care... They just know that it's blue, and therefore must be a blue cat. I point out the fins, I tell them how to see the difference, but with no real blue cat to compare it to, it's tough.

I think it's largely a matter of apathy. Not everyone is as into taxonomy as the rest of us anglers. I've stopped trying, and am now more into pointing out the difference between catfish and carp. Pick your intellectual battles, you know?

Hey, at least there IS a fish of that name.

I spent a bunch of time searching for sucker runs in Wisconsin and I kept hearing that they got runs of "Black Suckers".

I have found in my studies that its just a cultural thing to give a slang name to fish. Even at the Lipmasters, a redhorse fishing tourney in Rushford, they call the Redhorse. "suckers." ITs just their way of explaining the species.

In some ways you gotta give the local experts their way and go with it even if its not a scientific way of identifying the fish.

Occasionally I hear about blue cats in Manitoba.

Heres a pic of a large "blue" caught out of the Red river of the north....I hate it too when folks like to claim they caught blues! I dont even try to correct anymore, I just laugh.

Well......we had a 16 pound "BLUE" channel today.......I have a picture which I will find later. At least nobody was saying it was a blue cat....althought it was blue.

I was talking to someone about making something out of metal from a picture of a River Redhorse and when I was done talking to them they wanted to know if I had a barn I wanted to put that horse on. I just about choked.

There is a old boy where I work that gets down to Minnesota river for a mix of blue and channel cats. He such a cool guy I hate to ever correct him. But if I ever get down there with him I will show him.

Well I've heard of "Blue" Cats being caught in MN..and even some claiming they are native here in MN. Are they? Or are people just full of B.S. and can't tell the difference between an actual Blue and a Channel. I see people getting Channels and Flats confused too..especially at Prescott WI.

Nope no Blues in MN or WI
The closest possible spot is the Mississippi in Iowa just south of the WI border.
Big male channels are what people see.

I think I am going to go down to the river to see if I can tempt that big boy to hit.
I have gotten some monsters from that spot in the past. My personal Best Channel came from there a 36" Male "Blue"

Many river systems here in Virginia it's rare to catch a channel catfish anymore... The Bluecats just totally take over the river...

Funny that people confuse male channels for bluecats they look nothing alike.

Meadeo