Say, Clayton, I'm guessing from your picture that your catch is a big channel catfish. Let's see if you get any other feedback from others who may agree/disagree with me.
Blue cats have a straight-edged anal fin. You can lay a ruler along it, and it will appear straight. At least from the angle of your picture, it sure looks like you have the typical curved anal fin of a channel catfish.
If I'm right, then I thought you might want to know?? Sounds like you have some big channel cats, with some smaller ones following behind in size?
I usually go by the rule "if it has one spot, it's a channel cat." Couldn't find one on this fish (any spots in the photo are dirt.)
One of the "regional" names is a "high-fin Blue" around here.
If it's not a Blue, I'm very open to knowing more about what it might be.
Our pond is approximately 2 acres. I caught this fish using a Daiwa spincast reel, Ugly stick rod, and 14 # Spiderwire. Used some "liver" scented stinkbait from Bass Pro. I did use some enhanced interrogation techniques and found out from this fish that there are others like him plotting to eat more of my feed.
Am I correct in my assumption this fish is NOT one we stocked, considering the earliest we stocked were 6-8" CC in late February 2009? It would seem to indicate record growth if this was one of ours........
