One of the largest catfish in the North of America is the blue catfish, also known as the Ictalurus furcatus. Blue catfish are primarily found in the drainage rivers of the Mississippi River, for example they can be found in many rivers such as the Missouri, Arkansas ,Ohio and the Tennessee. Many of the larger blue catfish have been found in large lakes across the US.

The world record for the largest blue catfish ever caught is 143 pounds weight, and was caught by Nick Anderson at Buggs Island Lake.

Blue catfish feed off many other species. They are known to be very opportunistic and will eat almost anything at all, for example frogs, mussels etc. It has even been reported that blue catfish have attacked divers. Blue catfish are very clever when it comes to feeding time. They have learnt that it is far easier to live and feed in areas where there are many other dead or injured organisms about, which reduces the effort that it takes for them to catch their prey.

 

This is a big survival characteristic of the blue catfish; they try to expend as little energy as possible when they look for their prey. This can be used to your advantage when you are blue catfish fishing, because you will have a big increase in the chance that you encounter a blue catfish if you position yourself well. The best positions for catching blue catfish are dam spillways and power generation turbines.

Your choice of catfish bait is very important when it comes to blue cats, because of their strong preference for dead or dying food, you need to use dead bait or even stink baits. Having said that, Blue cats will respond well to live bait too for example river herring or shad. The best size of bait to use is usually around four to twelve inches long, with a sinker from half an ounce to 8 ounces. If you are looking for big blue catfish, then you need to make sure that you have some serious tackle. Make sure that you have a large heavy action pole with at least 100lbs line. Be ready for a fight though, because blue catfish will not make it easy for you! They are known for their aggression and are considered by some as game fish because of their aggressive nature.

 

Blue catfish tend to stay in deeper waters, although they do like the warmth of the sun and they are known to venture into the shallows in search of warmth and prey. This is your best chance at catching a blue catfish.
Many divers report seeing 8 foot long blue catfish, however that is probably a wild over exaggeration, they most likely saw a blue catfish of about five foot in length and 130 pounds. If you catch a blue catfish over 20 pounds, it is becoming common courtesy to ensure that you release it unharmed back into the water, so that the population of large blue catfish can be maintained, which is important, because the population of large blue cats has been on a rapid decline recently due to the vast number of fishermen who want to catch and cook them! The best size blue catfish for a meal is usually between 5 and 20 pounds.

 

So remember; help the blue catfish population by always looking after the big ones that you catch. Good luck on your next catfishing trip!