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Channel or blue cat?


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#1 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 11:27 AM

OK we have an angler in our park that just caught a 34 pound catfish. We only stock channel catfish into the reservoir. However, it does receive delta water, and the delta is only location in northern California where people OCCASIONALLY find blue cats. We never have. We have had large cats caught there before, and they have all been channels. However this is a much larger cat than is normally caught, and we are looking for outside opinions on the ID. There isn't a clear shot of an outstretched anal fin. So there isn't a clear ID for us. If it's a channel, it's a new record. If it's a blue, it's also a new record because there isn't one on file.

 

What do my fellow Nafans think? Thanks!

 

 

Attached File  005.JPG   182.07KB   3 downloads

 

Attached File  003.JPG   219.18KB   3 downloads

 

 

 


FishGuyJosh

#2 littlen

littlen
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  • Washington, D.C.

Posted 11 February 2016 - 12:17 PM

Looks azul to me.


Nick L.

#3 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 12:25 PM

*Sorry correction, these are two different fish. The one in front of the marina is definitely a channel. The one the person is holding in front of the lake is the one we need to ID.

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FishGuyJosh

#4 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
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  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 11 February 2016 - 12:39 PM

I would guess channel for the first and blue for the second. On the second fish, the head profile looks pretty straight. Also, you can see some of the anal fin (especially if you lighten the photo), and it appears to be fairly straight.



#5 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 12:43 PM

Yeah I felt the same way Isaac. The only problem was that the anal fin was sort of hanging down at an odd angle, but other than that it did appear to be much straighter than the first fish.

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#6 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 01:00 PM

Hey Isaac, with the photo lighting are you able to do a fin ray count on the bottom fish?

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FishGuyJosh

#7 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 01:01 PM

Sorry voice to text technology. I meant to say with the photo lightened

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#8 Isaac Szabo

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 01:08 PM

Yeah, I agree that the angle makes it hard to know if we're seeing the shape of the anal fin accurately. Hopefully someone with more experience with blues will chime in. I would think someone who has seen lots of them might be able to tell by the shape of the head. To me, the straight, flat predorsal profile looks like a blue (but that's based on books and photos, not real world experience).

 

The image is too small to accurately count the anal rays. But I wonder if the person who took the photo has a higher resolution version of the image?



#9 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 01:20 PM

If you PM me your email address, I'll send you the original to see if it has better resolution.

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#10 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
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Posted 11 February 2016 - 02:11 PM

OK. The resolution (pixel dimensions) of the image here on the forum is 1200 x 900. There's no need to send me another version of the image unless it has larger pixel dimensions.



#11 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 11 February 2016 - 06:41 PM

I just double checked, and the original file is in fact bigger. I'll send it your way.


FishGuyJosh

#12 Sean Phillips

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  • Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 12 February 2016 - 03:07 PM

At first glance, I'd say Channel. The anal fin looks a bit round for a Blue, but then again, it's not fully erect in either picture so it's difficult to say. It's a nice catch whatever it is!
Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#13 Matt DeLaVega

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  • Ohio

Posted 12 February 2016 - 06:26 PM

It looks like a blue to me, but I am in the same boat as you all, without seeing it from a good profile, not sure.


The member formerly known as Skipjack


#14 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
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  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 12 February 2016 - 07:41 PM

Here is the larger photo that Josh emailed me. I lightened the shadows, especially the anal fin. Click on the image to see it big.

 

possible%20blue%20cat%20lightened.jpg



#15 Sean Phillips

Sean Phillips
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  • Allegheny River Drainage, Southwest PA

Posted 13 February 2016 - 10:34 AM

Much better picture. At this point I'll have to lean towards Blue as well. The anal fin is rounded at the corners but it's projecting out too quickly at the front base to be a Channel.
Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#16 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 13 February 2016 - 09:57 PM

I would feel more confident calling it a blue now. Really cool guys!


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#17 FishGuyJosh

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Posted 14 February 2016 - 07:13 PM

Lol! To make the debate harder, I've found some other pictures the guy posted on a fishing app (unfortuantely I can't download them). He's blocking the anal fin in every picture, but a few of the shots make it look more like a channel. We're trying to contact him to see if he has ant more pics with the anal fin in better view.

 

Dr. Peter Moyle and Clayton Porter (the biologist who gave the pharyngeal teeth talk at the OK convention) have both weighed in that they think it is just a large channel.


FishGuyJosh

#18 mattknepley

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  • Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 15 February 2016 - 12:02 PM

Too bad it's not Lepomis; we could throw our hands up in the air, call it a hybrid, and be done with it. ;) Personally, I haven't the foggiest. Heck of a catch one way or the other as far as I'm concerned!
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#19 Sean Phillips

Sean Phillips
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Posted 22 February 2016 - 10:29 AM

Lol! To make the debate harder, I've found some other pictures the guy posted on a fishing app (unfortuantely I can't download them). He's blocking the anal fin in every picture, but a few of the shots make it look more like a channel. We're trying to contact him to see if he has ant more pics with the anal fin in better view.
 
Dr. Peter Moyle and Clayton Porter (the biologist who gave the pharyngeal teeth talk at the OK convention) have both weighed in that they think it is just a large channel.


That is one impressive Channel then! I don't believe I've ever seen one of that size caught before (there are some man-eaters, or rather diver-eaters I've seen on wrecks in Lake Erie though :)).
Sean Phillips - Pine Creek Watershed - Allegheny River Drainage

#20 smbass

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Posted 22 February 2016 - 04:13 PM

I think it might be a blue, I have handled a few small ones but never anything of size. The over all length of the anal fin is longer on a blue in proportion to the body, this is what is making me think blue. It is difficult to tell for sure but I would lean toward a blue cat. If you get some more photos post them!


Brian J. Zimmerman

Gambier, Ohio - Kokosing River Drainage





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