Blue Cats

[Captain Kirk]

Does anyone targe Blue Channel Cats on Table Rock. And if so, give me some insight on where and when and with what you fish with. etc.

[laker67]

Does anyone targe Blue Channel Cats on Table Rock. And if so, give me some insight on where and when and with what you fish with. etc.

Would that be a hybrid catfish?

[mhall02]

Blue Cats are not typical in the White River drainage, but Flatheads and Channel are. Here is where you will find Blue cat:

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/mofish/mofish.cgi?id=32

It does apperar one was collected in Taney county from the map, Taneycomo or Bull Shoals? Wonder where he came from?

[Troy Gregg]

Would that be a hybrid catfish?

as far as Blue cats are concerned... there are not any in any of our ozark lakes..( taneycomo, tablerock, or Bull shoals) Truman and Grand lakes are your best bets for Blues... and Big blues at that.

Table Rock, Taneycomo, and Bull Shoals all have channel cats and those can get quite sizeable and confused with the blues. The best way to tell the difference is by the anal fin. blues have a square fin, channels have a rounded fin.

Please excuse these pics as they are a couple of years old but you can see the difference in the two....

as far as tactics I am probably not much help

The blues we caught on a trip to truman and they all came on jugs baited with cut shad set in 10 - 30 feet of water

The largest weighed 27lbs and some ounces... the channel (pictured right) weighed 16lbs 5 ounces and I caught it on a grub, bass fishing.

Trotlines and juglines are the most productive for me when catfishing and can produce some very nice fish... depending on the lake really depends on what you get.

[Jason Essary]

Kirk,

The best way i have found to catch cats on tablerock, at least in the main lake where i do most of my fishing, is by trotline. about April to when they spawn is a great time, and after they spawn its not bad. Ive went pole fishing with very limited success on the main lake, but im not a pro either. I have had plenty of luck with poles from cape fair on up the james and flat creek. Try to time the trip with raising dirty water as thats when my buds normally sack the fish. worms and fresh cut shad are tops in there eyes, but fresh shad can be a pain to cast net sometimes. anything more specific just let me know, ill give ya all i know, im sure there are people on here that would know a little more...

[Jeremy Rasnick]

Kirk,

The best way i have found to catch cats on tablerock, at least in the main lake where i do most of my fishing, is by trotline. about April to when they spawn is a great time, and after they spawn its not bad. Ive went pole fishing with very limited success on the main lake, but im not a pro either. I have had plenty of luck with poles from cape fair on up the james and flat creek. Try to time the trip with raising dirty water as thats when my buds normally sack the fish. worms and fresh cut shad are tops in there eyes, but fresh shad can be a pain to cast net sometimes. anything more specific just let me know, ill give ya all i know, im sure there are people on here that would know a little more...

Another great place to catch Cats is up Yocum and Long creek as far as you can go, after a muddy rain. I've only done it a couple of times but both times we loaded the boat, using crawlers.

[Captain Kirk]

Thanks...anyone fish for them vertically out on the main lake with live perch or shad? That is so good in Oklahoma and texas, kansas etc. And if you catch one, you will wonder why you fished for bass...hah..Great fish. hard fighting and beautiful color. Open water fishing is hard until you have someone teach you how. My friend limits on walley every day of the year that he is out.

[CaptainJoe]

I have not targeted the catfish on Table Rock, but the ones I caught have been on white spoons 45' deep in the first channel bend just past the Long Creek Marina. Small cuts in Long Creek using a bobber and nightcrawlers. And, believe it or not, the others were caught night fishing in the dam area using a black Jitterbug in one foot of water. Yes, they hit a very old topwater plug that still catches fish.

[Captain Kirk]

Thanks, I know they are there. Just not fished for hard. What a pretty fish to catch etc. and if you are eating them, good too. Will let you know what i find this summer.