Mississippi Blue Cats

[dwayneb]

So i got a chance to fish the Mississippi while on business in st louis, ended up catching my first ever blue cat...got 3 total big one 35" long 24" girth right about 30 lbs...
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[remo_5_0]

Nice job, congrats! From a boat or bank?
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[dwayneb]

Just from the muddy bank
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[remo_5_0]

That has got to be one big river near St. Louis.
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[dwayneb]

Yup I fished a few miles below where the Missouri dumps into the Mississippi right near St Louis...I actually couldn't find good access since most people fish in the city parks, the problem is they close all the parks at dusk which is when I wanted to go...I ended up driving down the road that runs along the river watching my gps for any road that cut east down to the river...I found a gravel road between two barge companies that had a small section not fenced. I was able to navigate down a steep bank and go about 100 yds to the river...sat between two barge companies from 9pm -2am. I managed to find some frozen skipjack that I cut up after it thawed...it took 7-9 oz of weight to hold my bait in the current. I had one fish grab a 5" fish head and start peeling off 30lb test doubling my 9ft heavy cat rod...as I grabbed the rod before it ended up in the river he let go...I missed 3 more like that so I ended up pushing the hook through the meat then wrapping the meat a couple times with the line and running the hook again through the meat...I didn't miss another...however they shut off at 1am...I am convinced that first fish I missed was a giant...guy a few day prior in one of the parks landed an 85lber and a 55...

I attached a picture of a dead cat that was around 5ft long...I lifted his head a bit and it was nearly big as my waist...true giant for sure...anyways had a great time now we will see how they taste...
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[HD7000]

I miss fishing blues so bad! They are quite tasty too...I haven't done any research on them, but is it our water temp that prevents them from thriving here? People say they have caught big catfish in some of our local waters here, but there is nothing like pulling in a fat Blue that is as big as your 5 year old son!
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I think blues...and even flatheads...would do well in some Utah Waters. In fact, some of the best fishing for big blues is during the cold months of the year. Flatheads, not so much. They are warm weather beasts and lay on the bottom and go dormant when water temps drop much below 50.

Both species are great eating...even when they get big. Just gotta fillet them and cut the fillets into small steaklets for complete cooking. I know folks who fight over who gets the thick belly strips on flatheads.

The biggest impediment to blues and flatheads in Utah is DWR...and the feds...especially if you are trying to get them introduced into Utah Lake. That is the holy homeland of the sainted June sucker. Anything that might eat a Junie is the enemy.
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[Bduck]

The Mississippi & Tennessee rivers are some old stomping grounds for me catfishing when I was a youngster. I use to go out on late Friday and come home Sunday afternoon. Use to snag shad on Tenn river for our cut bait. Also hung sliced shad around the camp while fishing at night to keep mosquitos from swarming us. West of Dyersburg, Tenn(a previous residents) is where I fished the Miss and learned to water ski. Some friends had the knack for noodling, could this be on your list for some flatheads.

Noodling
Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands, practiced primarily in the southern United States. The noodler places his hand inside a discovered catfish hole. Many other names, such as catfisting, grabbling, graveling, hand-grabbing, hogging, cat-daddling, dogging, deepthroating, gurgling, tickling and stumping, are used in different regions for the same activity.
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[HD7000]

[quote TubeDude][#0000ff]...and even flatheads...would do well in some Utah Waters.
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I would love to see blues here locally! Flatheads on the other hand, are a whole different story. Yes, they get big fast and make for some good table fare, but they can also cause a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
Last summer I went to SoCal to do some LMB fishing and had a good talk about the fishery at Diamond Valley Lake with their Fish and Game Biologist. She told me that their electroshocking survey produced multiple Flathead cats in the 200-300lb class! While this is amazing that there are fish this big in a freshwater lake, they can reek havoc on other species and completely decimate a fishery. Her direct words were, "a flathead the size of a Volkswagen Beetle can consume 3-5 trophy bass in a single day!"
Flatheads primarily feed on live fish rather than dead fish or decaying meat on the bottom like most other cats. The primary way people catch them is with live bait or like stated above, "Noodling". I don't see either of these techniques catching on real well here...
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I'm well aware of how predatory flatheads are...and how damaging they can be to a small closed ecosystem. They eat anything that does not eat them first. I have fished for them using baitfish up to about four pounds.

But I think the California folks were pulling your chain...errrr stringer. Flatheads do not get that big...anywhere. The all tackle record is not quite 130 pounds...from Kansas. There have been bigger cats taken by commercial or illegal means but nothing over about 140 pounds.

There is no doubt they could have a negative effect on any of Utah's waters. Down in Arizona I watched even small to middle sized flatheads slurp up newly released hatchery pet rainbows like they were candy. Pretty scary when that happens right next to you when you are quietly float tubing.
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[HD7000]

That's what my thoughts were also when she came out with such a large size...I guess fish cops know how to tell a good fish story too!

Really though, we should start a petition or something to get the idea out for possibly introducing some blues into some of our waters!
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[TubeDude]

[quote HD7000] Really though, we should start a petition or something to get the idea out for possibly introducing some blues into some of our waters![/quote]

[#0000FF]I admire your passion for getting some blue cats in Utah. But I gotta question your sense of reality. Hey, this IS Utah...where we gotta set our clocks back a hundred years when we take up residence.

DWR does a great job establishing and maintaining good fishing in a desert state. Just in the past few years we have seen great changes in attitudes, policies and procedures. Lots of new species being introduced into new waters. They are trying.

But when it comes to bringing in entirely new species to any water in the state, the idea usually gets a lot of eye-rolling and moaning...if not outright foaming at the mouth. That is not entirely a bad thing...with all of the nasty new fish diseases and the rampant spread of invasive species...like mussels, snails and even destructive fish. But sometimes the decisions seems more knee-jerk rather than carefully considered.

When I first lived in Utah, back in the 60's, I was a temporary transplant from California. I loved the fishing I found here because there were so few troutaholics taking advantage of my old friends the bass, bluegills, crappies, perch and catfish.

By the time I returned to Utah as a permanent resident...in the late 1970's...I had already had considerable fishing experience in other states and for other species. I couldn't help believing that blue cats in Utah Lake would be a match made in fishy heaven. But when I suggested as much to a couple of my "friends" at DWR I was nearly lynched. Lucky to escape with only 2'nd degree scorn marks.

After another 20 years out of Utah...racking up heavy frequent fishing miles around the country...I moved back to retire here. I was pleased to note the changes in the ecology and in the angling community. Lots more folks deliberately fishing for non-trout species...and more non-trout species occupying some of my former fave fishing holes.

After a couple of years of settling in, learning the current fishing spectrum and getting to know more of the DWR folks, I thought I might once again try to get some blue cats (or flatheads) put into Utah Lake. Bam! I ran headlong into the June Sucker huggers. Game over.

We gotta be reasonable. The DWR folks know what they are doing. They have good people in the right positions and they are staying on top of the changing situations in all our waters. If there were good reasons for adding another top predator to Junie Lake (oops. sorry.) they might consider it. But until the last June sucker dies of natural causes we are not likely to see ANY other species in there.

Still...maybe we could do a "backdoor" shot at getting some in Cutler and the Bear River. Or even a closed system like Willard. Hmmmm?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Sorry your post "went south". I meant to congratulate you on some nice fish. A 30 pound cat is a nice one anywhere...even if they do grow bigger. Sometimes you don't even wanna get involved with those bigger ones. Too much like work.

Good you got away to do something important.
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[Papasan]

I have had the understanding that channel catfish are worthy game fish as in putting up a good fight and also being great eating?
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[wagdog]

Nice! Blue cats taste great. Thanks for the pics!
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[Therapist]

Well I am glad that you got to sample the Missasloppy, part of my old stomping grounds. We used to fish right off the cobbelstones at the base of the Arch, before the Arch was there, only some river boats and the Admiral. Never caught much other than carp, but for a 10 yr old kid, that was enough.

Later in my teen years we journeyed from Alton on the North to Kentucky Lake on the south. Just below the dam at Paducah Ky, we would snag gizzard shad up to 5-6 lbs, cut em up and toss em out into the current below the dam. Never caught anything over 25-30 lbs, but saw some 40-50's taken.

If you go to St. Louis on business on a regular basis, check out the Missouri around St. Charles and the Merrimack just west of St. Louis. Both have some great cat fishing.

As to the size of the River at St. Louis, It is about 250 yds wide right below the Arch. Up by Alton, north of St. Louis, it is almost a mile wide due to the Lock and Dam system there. Never been on the river in a boat, so I am not sure how deep it is on the river front. A lot of the old boats on the river front are gone, being replaced by newer casino boats.

Glad you got to sample the river. What business do you do in St. Louis if you don't mind me asking ??? Still have lots of friends there !!

[dwayneb]

I really appreciate the information it sounds like u had quite the experience growing up...so I retired from the military 2 yrs ago and now work in the engineering group at JBT Aerotech also known as Jetway. We do a ton of business with Boeing in St Louis so I find myself there randomly relative to time of year and scope of project.
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[Therapist]

Thanks for your service !! When Boeing was known as McDonald Areo Space, the plant in St. Louis produced the Phantom Fighter jet. McDonald and St. Louis Municipal Airport, shared the main runway. They would roll the new Phantoms out and the pilot would fire up the engines, get started down the runway, and when the nose wheel lifted off, they would pull the stick back, pretty much stand the plane on it's tail, and rocket into the sky in a vertical climb. This was before the prohibition on breaking the sound barrier and it was a bit loud. There were often two of them, almost side by side pulling this maneuver. Lindberg Blvd went by the west end of the runnway and you could park on the side of the road and watch the planes take off. It was quite the site. Unfortunately they don;t build fighters in St. Louis any more and you sure can't sit at the end of the runway and watch planes take off !!! Enjoy your time there.

One other place you might check out there is the August A. Busch wildlife area. It is North and west of St. Louis, about 20 miles or so. It is a fee area, but they have about a half dozen ponds/lakes that you can fish. It is set up for bank fisherman, have LMB, bluegill, Crappie, and catfish. That was one of the spots we could get our mothers to take us before we had driver's license's and we could drive ourselves. It is run by the Missouri Fish and Game, so you can check it out on their Web site !!