Someone from prescott told me that he and other folks always seem to catch alot of blue catfish in the st. croix near the mississippi confluence. Have any of you guys ever caught blues in the st. croix or is this just myth. I dont think ive ever seen anyone catch any.
Hey Andy…caught me just before bed time!
This spring a fella watch as I pulled in a 3 or 6 lbs channel with a blue color to it…he said that’s a nice Blue!
So I explained the differance to him…and he left, only to return with a fish id book. Sure nuff…it was a channel cat with a blue coloring…which is often the case.
As of today, any Blue would be the state of MN’s record as we have none on record.
All that being said….read this link! (see below)
Let’s try that link again..
OK…I give up…RE POST!
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The Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is a Titan among the fish fauna of North America. One historical account in 1866 from the Missouri River near Portland, Missouri weighed 315 pounds, and there are several other more recent reports of Blue’s in excess of 100 pounds. However, there have been no authenticated records for this species in either Minnesota or Wisconsin, but one unverifiable account describes a 160 pound catfish which may have been a Blue from the Minnesota River in the 1800’s. This species is reported to be migratory, and it may have once ranged this far north, but the construction of dams on the upper Mississippi River in the early 1900’s likely created impassable barriers. In 1977, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) stocked 6000 Blue Cat fingerlings in the lower St. Croix River. The following year, a half pounder assumed to be from this stocking, was collected in the Mississippi River (Lake Pepin), several miles downstream of the St. Croix River. It is interesting to note that these fingerlings came from Alabama and my hypothesis is this guy was just heading south for home and warmer waters.
Coincidentally in the 1970’s, I was fanatically involved in the disdained and very seldom practiced art of catfishing (at least at that time and these latitudes). The group I went out with would hit the rivers up to three times a week and did we catch catfish. One odd thing we clearly noticed about Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in the St. Croix was color. Most would be gray with spots, but a few were sky blue and spotless. We were all aware of the Blue Cat stocking program and assumed that’s what these were. What we were not aware of at that time was the anal fin ray count would have verified whether we had Channels (24-27 rays) or Blues (30-36 rays). Nevertheless, our group did not face a moral or ethical dilemma with these potential transplants and treated them equally as Channel’s – we found them quite edible. So much for the “body of evidence.”
I hadn’t given those sky Blue’s much thought for years and agreed with the MDNR consensus that the stocking program had probably failed. However, in 1992, a MDNR Fish Manager quite casually informed me that they had been seeing Blue Cat’s rather frequently in the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. I almost said in disbelief, “Excuse me!”, but mustered an encouraging request to get at least one verified and vouchered in a collection. He assured me that would be no problem, but so far no Blue’s. Also in 1992, a MDNR Nongame Wildlife Specialist asked me to check on an angler’s report of a Blue from the St. Croix River. I called him and asked if by chance he just happened to save the fish. No, because it was rare he decided to release it. A very noble deed indeed, but sure didn’t make my day. I asked (begged) that next time to save one, call me anytime, and I’d pick it up. Again, I haven’t heard a whisper.
I had believed these recent reports and very likely the sky blue catfish I used to catch were actually just a natural color phase of the Channel. Besides, none of these suspect catfish ever came close to breaking the Channel Cat state record. However, someone always has to throw a wrench into things and our President, Ray Katula, did just that. He mentioned anglers near Winona, Minnesota have claimed catching and also eating Blue’s from the Mississippi River. Ray has asked them repeatedly to save at least the anal fin to get a ray count, but he’s not having any better luck than I have had. Again these stories could be easily dismissed, but Ray has got one of his own that is difficult to ignore. He once found the carcass of a large catfish in the Mississippi River which was 4.5 to 5 feet long. I’ve been collecting with Ray and he does know fish very well, but I had to hassle him about the possibility that this may have been a Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris). No, he was certain it was not because Flathead’s don’t have forked tails.
Now, doubt makes my position far less certain. I guess the only thing left to do is pull the old fishing poles out of the attic, dust them off, and pay some visits to the old fishing holes one last time. Perhaps with some luck, I will put my nagging question to rest for good.
References
Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1053 pp.Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill. 1991. Fishes of the Minnesota Region. 2nd printing. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 249 pp.
The Native Fish Conservancy
Makes sense to what I already thought. People catching blue colored channels and mistaking them. I think the diff. in water clarity makes em look blue. I always knew they were always living down south more and knew that their bottom fin is longer.
Believe it or not…I caught a Blue Cat from the mouth of the Menominee River in May of 2000 on a deep diving crank bait. It was on boundary waters and I was fishing with a Wis non-resident license.
It had a HUGE head and mouth and relatively long skinny body… It was 15 lbs on my hand scale.
Did I throw back another state record fish Brian? My partner caught an 11 lber a short time later…
Tom, I’m not an expert on fish ID’s but generally a blue has a gut bigger than it’s head.
I had a channel that looked odd to me once…it was pointed out it was a male channel???
Really, from my understanding…the only sure way of telling is the fin under the rear end…it’s much longer than a channel cat…
Gotta run..but I’ll find some pictures later. 
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the fun under the rear end
WHOA!!!!!! I know you love your cats Brian, but that’s a little TOO MUCH INFORMATION!
“Fun under the rear end” 
Only you would catch that Dave! 
What’s that called…Fraudian slip???
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Believe it or not…I caught a Blue Cat from the mouth of the Menominee River in May of 2000
Or not. It was a pre-spawn channel – nice one. They get swelled heads that make them look quite odd compared to normal, and coupled with darker coloration this gives the impression of a different fish altogether. There are stories every year and people who are die-hard believers that they catch blues, but it just isn’t true.
The anal fin on a blue has 30-35 rays in its anal fin, while the channel has 24-29. This is really the only definitive way to tell the difference, as their appearance is variable enough in both species that there is overlap in about every other feature.
Blue cats are “big river” fish and seldom if ever found in smaller rivers even within their existing range. They inhabit the Mississippi, but only about as far north as mid-Iowa. Several thousand were stocked in Lakes St. Croix and Pepin in 1977, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that there are extremely exceptional survivors, but if anyone you know is claiming to have caught “several” or “yearly” catches of blues in Wisconsin or MN, they are mistaken.
Another quick way to tell is that the long edge of the anal fin on a blue is straight and it is curved on a channel cat.
I have often pondered the blue cat enigma, wondering as I guess the DNR did too back in the 70’s, what does the Miss. in southern Iowa have that Pepin and the St. Croix doesn’t? Other than the vast number of uninterrupted miles and increased volume, I guess the obvious answer is first and foremost- Blue Catfish. While I will never give up hope, I am frustrated by the fact that most of the “Blue Cat encounters” today are all but certainly misidentifications. I just don’t know why we don’t at least encounter a few verifiable “strays”! Barriers certainly have played a part in recent years (but how did an “Asian” carp get itself up to pool 3?).
Perhaps in the past, the number of days with cold weather conditions/water temps this far north have been a limiting factor to the way of life of a Blue Catfish and to the forage species it relies on, and maybe that is why a permanent population was never established here. I guess only a catfish would really know. However, it does seem that the recent winters here have not been up to the standards to the ones of the 1700-1800’s. That is why I keep looking to the south with hope.
Maybe another round of stocking should be tried, it could be billed as a biological solution /alternative to the fish barriers talked about to foil the bighead and silver carp. Until such a time as another stocking actually occurs, when I fish the river and it gets down to the end of the night and there is only one big sucker left in the cooler, about half of that thing is going on a big circle hook and it’s going to get tossed out towards the middle of the river- ’cause you just never know.
caught this in pool 2 last year.
Great looking channel cat! 
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caught this in pool 2 last year.
Very nice spawned out channel cat!
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