Blue catfish in bear river?

[poorfisherman]

I was reading explore from the standard examiner today and the artical on the bear river mentioned blue catfish in it.

are there really blue catfish in there and are they the variety like back east that hit 80 pounds or are they different.

id like to hook a big cat[cool]
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[Kayote]

Those are channel cats in the Bear River. No blues in Utah yet, but boy what a happy thought that is.

Good Catfishing, Kayote
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[Curtisfish]

I am unaware of there being any Blue cats in the state. Here is the list from utahfishfinder as to the species found in the Bear River.

[#0000ff]Bear River[/#0000ff]
Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Bullhead Catfish, Channel Catfish, Crappie, Cutthroat Trout, Green Sunfish, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Whitefish, Yellow Perch

Where the story came from Dave Scadden of Dave Scadden Pontoon Craft, You would hope it to hold water. Here is a link to his web site if you want to try and contact him for more information. Hope it helps. If they are there, I want to go!

[url "http://www.davescaddenpontooncraft.com/index.html"]http://www.davescaddenpontooncraft.com/index.html[/url]
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[fishforfun]

Didn't they stocked blue cats in that new pond next to I-215? I think it's called willow pond? From what I heard, they brought the fish in from the east. Maybe somebody was just pulling my chain.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Just another problem with nomenclature. I first heard the term "blue channel cats" back in the sixties, applied to the bluish color phase of regular old channel cats. The true blue cat is mostly confined to waters in the eastern states, with some successful transplants into California lakes.

In most waters that have channels, adult males seem to turn darker during spawning season and often remain an almost blue color throughout the year. Younger males and females are more commonly the brownish hue.

Larger males sometimes have heads larger in proportion to their bodies than females also. This, along with color differences, results in many anglers mistaking them for being two different species.

I once witnessed a bodacious fist fight between two "tanglers" arguing over whether or not a fish was a "blue" cat. That's how them hot springs came to be at Lincoln Beach.
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[Curtisfish]

I went out and read the article. This is the paragraph copied from the article.
"Time invested in learning the river will pay off in some big fish. Both channel and blue cats over 10 pounds have already been reported this spring. The best is yet to come."

He obviously is mistaken about where he was, or actually thinks that there are Blues in the Bear.

Here's the link to the page. You have to register to read it, but it's free.

[url "http://www.standard.net/standard/news/news_story.html?sid=00030506202055757261+cat%3Dxplore+template%3Dnews1.html&TVS=1%241984401333%2450%24Wed+May+07+17%3A46%3A37+EDT+2003-61951%240%24768EF4B68515F43D056868B9BDF82D1E&CSBOX=1%24158%240%24USD%240.0%2410.0%2420.0%240.0%240%240%2433%3AUSD%3AUSD%3AL4%2C0%2C.05%2C.02%2C.05%2C10%2C0%2C.25%2418%3AUSD%3AUSD%3AL1%2C.02%2C.05&CSAK=CSAK%3A1052345053955%3AA93ED6FA081F18B56C056E9C91E36A16"]http://www.standard.net/standard/news/news_story.html?sid=00030506202055757261+cat%3Dxplore+template%3Dnews1.html&TVS=1%241984401333%2450%24Wed+May+07+17%3A46%3A37+EDT+2003-61951%240%24768EF4B68515F43D056868B9BDF82D1E&CSBOX=1%24158%240%24USD%240.0%2410.0%2420.0%240.0%240%240%2433%3AUSD%3AUSD%3AL4%2C0%2C.05%2C.02%2C.05%2C10%2C0%2C.25%2418%3AUSD%3AUSD%3AL1%2C.02%2C.05&CSAK=CSAK%3A1052345053955%3AA93ED6FA081F18B56C056E9C91E36A16[/url]
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Just because it's written doesn't mean it's right.
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[Badger]

You know when you smoke certain substances colors all look kind of the same blues, greens, blacks.



Badger
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[Curtisfish]

Ain't that the truth! And a good thing too. I mean, look at some of the stuff I've written on this site.[] Keep smilin' TD.[cool]
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[Curtisfish]

[]You got in between TD's message and my response. If you read them without noticing the sequence, it sure sounds like I could be in trouble. I'm glad it's not me saying that there are Blues in the Bear.

Substances??? What substances would that be??? I've never heard of such a thing. Nope, not me. Wouldn't have a clue.< >
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[Kayote]

How would you guys know this????????? Danged hippies. LMAO

Good ...Uh???? Something (I forgot what I was......hmmmm), Kayote (I think??????)
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[PescadorUtah]

Did I tell you about the taimen in the middle section of the Provo?
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[chefwhofishes]

Dave Scadden smoking substances????....Is that why the prices are so high on all his products?.......LOL
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[Xman]

ok so what kind of catfish is this. i was under the impression it was a blue. i might be one of those mistaken identity fisherman as well. haha



[url "http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/utahfishtalk/vwp?.dir=/xman+fish+2&amp;amp;.src=gr&amp;amp;.dnm=b+big+cat+1.jpg&amp;amp;.view=t&amp;amp;.done=http%3a//photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/utahfishtalk/lst%3f%26.dir=/xman%2bfish%2b2%26.src=gr%26.view=t"][/url]
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[FishFearMe]

Well X-man. Seeing that your at B-ponds. I would assume it is a channel. Or at least thats all they claim is in there for cats.

Not a bad one though
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[Xman]

they told me it was blues they were dumping in. so that is why i was .
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[TubeDude]

[cool]If you caught it in Utah, there is a 99.99999999% chance it is a channel and not a blue. Your picture posted so small that there was not enough detail to make an accurate evaluation. However, here is a good pic of a blue cat, showing one of the most easily recognizable differences between blue cats and channel cats of similar size. That is, the length and shape of the anal fin. It is rounded and shorter on a channel cat...straight and longer (almost all the way to the tail) on a blue cat.



BLUE CAT ABOVE...CHANNEL CAT BELOW


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[FishFearMe]

also (correct me if I am wrong) I was told that the blues are alot more silver and shiny in color and also alot more round in the body...not as flat. Might be wrong but that is what was taught to me
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[Xman]

if you click the picture it redirects to a larger version thats why i posted it that way. i think its a channel compared to your pictures though. it sure had some blue haze to it and they told me they were blues. probably the blue version of a channel. oh and if you click the picture it redirect you to again it will make even a bigger picture.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Clicking on the picture merely brings up a registration page for Yahoo. If you are already registered, your cookies will let you through. I am not, nor do I care to be.

To repeat a statement made in a previous post, color alone does not a blue cat make. Blue cats can be brown and channel cats can be blue. It's the genetics that determine the species.

I have caught channel cats in more than twenty different states in which the males were either dark black or bluish. And, just like in Utah, local anglers refer to them as blue cats or "blue channels".

Bottom line...you caught a nice fish. And the bad news is that it was probably "harvested" and removed from that lake within a few days (if not hours) of the time you released it.

A lot of that going on where you caught it...and everywhere else. Down in Arizona it is almost "full contact" fishing after the hatchery trucks dump catfish in the urban fishing lakes. If you watch the action, you will see people leave with limits, only to return an hour later for another...and another...until a dad and his kids can't get a bite when they come down in the evening after dad gets off work.

Hey, Mr. X, did you get the "blue" jigs?
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