Fishing on a smaller river in WI today and we caught several catfish that I assumed were channel catfish. Some were larger in that 10# range and were a darker color (blueish) than the rest of the fish. Someone mentioned they were blue catfish. I questioned that because I thought there were no Blue catfish in WI. I still think they were bigger channel cats with a different coloring. The bigger ones were females. Thanks.
Shawn
^Agreed!
Next time you catch a black channel, ask the person if that makes this a black catfish, since those others that were blue were blue catfish.
Darker channels are males usually females seem to generally be more sandy color. Males will build large muscles on top of head it gives a differnt look to them.
Definitely a male channel catfish in breeding colors. The larger male channels turn a dark blue/slate color and as amundsonjon said the head gets very muscular. Also the lips will often look swollen. If you catch any more look at the anal fin on a channel cat it is slightly curved and on a blue cat it is straight, also the fin rays in the channel are never more than 30 and on a blue cat there will be between 30 and 35 rays in the anal fin.
It is possible it was a blueish cat.
It is a Tiger Catfish. A sterile hybrid of a blue cat and a channel. 
They were most likely channels..
There’s been a few confirmed blues caught around the south parts of MN/WI, but channels go from dark dark blue all the way to yellow, depending on where they live, water quality and sex.
If your friend continues to argue with you on the subject, have him take a picture next time he catches a “blue” cat and post it here… The folks around here tear those people up something fierce… (You’d be safer running down Harlem wearing bed sheets screaming racial obscenities than posting a pic of a channel cat saying it was a blue here).
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There’s been a few confirmed blues caught around the south parts of MN/WI,
Start running Josh! 
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There’s been a few confirmed blues caught around the south parts of MN/WI,
Start running Josh!
Can’t you vet people who post in the cat forum. Next thing he is going to tell us about the Bull sharks at Minnehaha falls.
Riverruns
Here is a picture of a blue cat.
The anal fins have 4 or 5 more rays than a channel cat and the head and body shape are a bit different.
I have a difficult time attempting to explain to some people that blue catfish are a species of catfish and not just a color phase of channel catfish.
Count the rays on the anal fin Shawn. That’s the best way to make a positive ID…
I look at the 72 pounder on my wall everyday asking myself…is that a channel?
LOL!
Good luck on Wissota!
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There’s been a few confirmed blues caught around the south parts of MN/WI,
Start running Josh!
Lol, didn’t you post a picture of a blue caught in Southern MN?
As a joke maybe. It’s hard to remember all the crap I’ve posted. 
You’re not talking about the MN State Record Blue from the MN River are you?
Although that one made the papers as a record, it didn’t make the books because it was transported from SD. The guy was found guilty of lying and transporting wild animals across state lines.
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The guy was found guilty of lying
That means a lot of catfishermen could get
arrested in Minn. 
If they had a law like that at Blacks landing on Santee Cooper those guides would get felony convitions and maybe even the death sentence.
xxxx xxxx of Browerville, Minn., poses with a 52-pound, 8-ounce blue catfish near Lac Qui Parle, Minn., Wednesday, May 22, 2002. Ness caught the fish on the Minnesota River using chicken liver for bait. Common in other areas of the nation, blue catfish are so rare in Minnesota that an official state record didn’t exist.
Photo Courtesy Department of Natural Resources
You know, the guy got greedy by ‘catching’ a 52lber. He could have ‘caught’ a 5lber, held the record forever, and possibly slid under the radar. 
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Public Records…
02/26/2003 Dept. Nat. Resources Converted Closed
POSS WILD ANIMAL UNLAWFUL MAKE FALSE AFFIDAVIT
This is the above fellas public criminal record and the reason there’s no MN State record Blue.
Sure would be nice to have some around here for a big fish in the winter months. 
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xxxx xxxx of Browerville, Minn.
Ness caught the fish…
Yeah yeah…not like I was protecting the innocent.
See you got the “no” in the right spot. 
Shoulda blanked out the background as well. 
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Yeah yeah…not like I was protecting the innocent.
See you got the “no” in the right spot.
I bet the guys first name is Lock.
Elliot.
Pete
Sweet
Drunken
C-c-c-c-c-ombo breaker!
Bah! I think you were taunting Pug in the post where you posted something about a blue cat being caught on one of the rivers south of the cities (it was on one of the highly volatile threads where someone claimed to catch a blue, and subsequently got tore up!)
I guess the sarcasm didn’t translate through text to me.. I was just like, well this BK guy seems to know what he’s talking about most the time, noted it and moved on!
That’ll teach ya Josh. 
Aye, it sure will!
Being a skeptic, I should have known better.
Least I know now that if I’m ever bored I can make a ghost account and post about the big blue I caught and watch the fun unfold!
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