Blue Catfish

Blue catfish are the largest member of the North American catfish family, a heavy-shouldered fish with a slate-blue to gray back, a white belly, a deeply forked tail and a straight-edged anal fin of 30–36 rays. That anal fin is the quickest way to separate a big blue from a channel catfish, whose anal fin is rounded and shorter; blue cats also lack the channel cat's spots at any size. Adults develop a pronounced hump ahead of the dorsal fin, hence the name humpback.

The native range covers the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river systems south through Texas and into Mexico. Stocking since the 1960s and 70s has established them across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, most notably in the James, Rappahannock and Potomac rivers of the Chesapeake Bay drainage, where they are now so abundant they are managed as an invasive species. Big-river reservoirs such as Santee Cooper, Wheeler and Texoma hold some of the heaviest populations.

Blue cats are opportunistic feeders that eat almost anything but rely heavily on shad, herring, skipjack and, in the Chesapeake, blue crabs and menhaden. They tolerate brackish water better than other catfish and move seasonally, following bait into shallow flats in spring and fall, dropping to deep channel bends and tailwater holes in winter, and spreading out in summer. They feed day and night but biggest fish often come in daylight on moving water.

For anglers, blue cats mean trophy potential: 50-pounders are realistic in a dozen states, and the current records push past 140 pounds. They have driven the growth of catfish tournaments, specialized boats and heavy baitcasting gear, and in Virginia and Maryland they are also a fish that managers actively want harvested.