FISHBUOY Pro Fishing App for North Americal Anglers
FISHBUOY Pro Fishing App for North Americal Anglers

CHANNEL CATFISH

How to identify a Channel Catfish

The distinctive Channel catfish can often be recognized at a glance by its deeply forked tail and spots on the body. The only other catfish with forked tails occurring in the U.S. waters are the blue catfish and the white catfish, neither of which is ever spotted. In addition to the spotted specimens, some channel catfish may be entirely black dorsally (males during the spawning season), or dark blue without spots, or even uniformly light blue or silvery exactly like a blue catfish or white catfish.

In the latter cases, the species can be identified by the number of rays in the anal fin. White catfish have 19-23 rays, channel catfish have 24-30, and blue catfish have the longest anal fin with 30-36 rays. Internally, the channel catfish has two chambers in the swim bladder and the blue catfish has three.

Where to catch Channel Catfish

The Channel catfish is currently distributed through most of the U.S. and parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico. In the U.S. it is most abundant in the central part of the country east to the Appalachians. Its occurrence is sparse along the west coast and east of the Appalachians because of its recent introduction.

Channel catfish prefer clean bottoms of sand or gravel in larger lakes and rivers. At spawning time, they will enter and ascend small tributaries and streams.

IDENTIFICATION

How to Identify a Channel Catfish
 1 24-30 rays on anal fin

 2 Spots on side with often a greyish-green color but can almost look silver in color and no scales

 3 Distinct and deeply forked tail

TARGET AREAS

  • Gradual Shores
  • Inlets and Outlets
  • Piers, Docks and Pilings
  • Spring Holes
  • Walkways and Bridges
  • Holes
  • Open Water
  • Shoreline Shallows
  • Sunken Objects
  • Freshwater Weed Beds

Acknowledgements:  We thank TAKEMEFISHING.org (www.takemefishing.org), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Indiana Department of Natural Resources for their contributions to these FISH FACTS.

  • WEATHER

    ALL NEW chart provides you with the ability to check out weather, wind and moon phase conditions.

Real-Time Weather Data for Anglers
  • LAKE MAPS

    Plan for places to fish with detailed lake contour maps by Navionics (Uses your existing Navionics app login)

Real-Time Weather Data for Anglers 8
  • MARINE

    Before you head out on the water, make sure to check out real-time NOAA marine buoy data.

Real-Time Marine Buoy Data
  • GAUGE DATA

    Watch river and reservoir water levels, flow rates, temps and even turbidity across North America.

Real-Time Water Gauge Data
  • LOGGING

    Automatically log your catch details every time you take a photo.

Fish Catch Digital Logs
  • GALLERY

    Conveniently search your fish photos using species and date range filters.

Manage and control your fishing history in one place!
  • TRIP STATS

    View your top three fish species, lures and bait colors at the end of your trip.

Post-Trip Personal Fishing Stats
  • DERBIES

    Create private events, invite competitors to join, share live feeds of your fishing derbies!

Fishing Derbies and Event Management
  • LOGGING

    Quickly add fish details to your photo - select from fish species, size, lure and primary lure color.

Fish Data Entry
  • WEIGHT

    Automatically estimate fish weight.  Simply measure the fishes length and girth to see the resulting weight.

Fish Weight Estimator
  • FISH ID

    The Fish Identification Tool was designed to help anglers correctly identify freshwater and saltwater sports fish.

Fish Identification Tool
  • LURE COLOR

    The Lure Color/Depth Tool was designed to help anglers pick the best lure color based on depth.

Lure Color Depth Tool

More than just a photo.

Anglers now have the ability to automatically log fish catches with a single photo.  Why wouldn't you?

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