Anyone raise Bluecat?

I am considering putting some Blue Cats into my mix. Think they will blend together well with my mixture? I don't want to grow monsters. I'd like to catch them between 3-5#

Suggest you talk to Overton and tell him the exact situation. He did have some BC.

I suggest you look into the BCXCC Hybrid if you don't want them to take over a pond of your size. Good eating but don't get big enough to eat the family dog.

Bear in mind that catfish are smart. Often you only catch them once, so they aren't always ideal for a catch and release and catch again when they're bigger strategy.

Speaking of BC/CC hybrids, they are supposed to be more disease resistant than either parent stock: Hybrid vigor.

I stocked blue cats about fifteen years ago. If you're feeding, the blue cats will get all of the feed. Very hook shy. They are long lived and can get over 100 pounds. I had a fish kill after a few years and had to take out many thirty-five pound fish with a small boat. Tough job. I probably still have a small number because every now and then something takes the bait and there's no stopping it. I'll never again stock any species of catfish. If you're determined to do it, you have my sympathy.

Well shucks. No wonder a lot of folks go HSB. I think I will just do a few Tilapia and hopefully eat good this fall.


I'm kinda betwix a rock and a hard place with my GSF. I can't do anything fingerling size and I'm afraid to stock any big bass because I want to wait and see if any BG or Res survived. I have some small fish eating, so I do hold out hope.

I think about 50 channel cats would be OK if you have the forage base to support them. They can get hook shy but all fish can. I stocked 125 about 20 years ago and am down to 2. I've caught them a couple of times but have returned them to the pond. They are probably 7 or 8 pounds.

I stocked 25 a couple of years ago in my 1/4 acre pond. I caught one last week when I was feeding and it was kinda skinny. They seem to have done a pretty good number on the GSF and BG.

I thought you stocked a bunch of 8 inch CC. If so I would wait on them. If you want stock 1 LMB and or a couple of HSB.

Yes, I stocked a 100 of them.

I stocked 350 BCs in my 16 acre pond a year and a half ago. Decent growth the first year, but I'm not really far enough into it to give you a good report. I do have different goals than most people in that I'm hoping they wipe out my fishery, in particular the carp problem that I have.

I stocked an equal amount of CC and BC the summer of 2015 at 4" long (from Overton's). They were 7-8" inside of 2 months. I've recently taken some out to eat at 18 - 20". When they were smaller, I always saw them feeding with the forage fish (BG, RES, GSH, Minnows...), not so much any more. I've caught mostly CC so far. The BC seem a little more reluctant to bite for some reason. Also, I know for a fact that the BC have spawned...haven't seen any CC YOY yet.

Good report. I wonder what makes them hook shy? It seems like you had nice growth too.

Bad news here today. Ten acre pond, four gar seen cruising a brush pile. Where there's four, there's likely more. Don't know how they got in. High water event a few months ago but didn't top the berm.

Dudley, do you know anyone who might be interested in archery fishing?

Yeah...you definitely need to remove those rascals from the premises...any size to them?

Ugh! I'm not fond of those creatures!

Thanks for the toothy report !! Better get out the 22 and practice head shots.

The guy who spotted the gars intends to try archery but hasn't yet discovered how far below the fish he needs to aim. He knows that smoked garfish is hard to beat. The tricky part is getting them to the smoker. He also saw a seven foot alligator. In the spring, alligators travel a lot, so it's probably just passing through. Gars are about 30".

He better be a good shot to hit 30" gar. Gator may have followed them there as a food source.

Or a 12ga with turkey loads, and aiming about a foot below the fish if completely submerged....if gar's back is partially breaking the water surface like most do around my area, aim dead on...My preferred "smoking" method.

Agree with Rex re shotgun. I find that they solve a lot of problems.

Yep, the shotgun works wonderful on my snake population.

A friend of mine put about 15-20 - 1 to 2 pound blue cats into his 1.3 acre pond about 10 years ago. One was caught last year at about 35 pounds. He thinks maybe 6 to 8 are still in there. The pond is 15 feet deep and has about 300 acres of rocky hillside watershed, so it has good flow through the cooler months. That pond still (to me) seems overpopulated with 3 to 7 inch bluegill. It also contains CC and several bass over 4 pounds.

Yeah, I definitely don't want any fish over 5# in my pond if I can help it. I was thinking of using them more as put and take.

Man!!
I wish so badly I could find someone with Blues within 200 miles of Atlanta!!!
I have been struggling with this pond I built for almost 25 years now!!
Any help or clues or tips would be so much appreciated!!

Could you catch some out of a local river or reservoir? That's how my neighbor got his blue catfish started.