Hello all. I have to admit in my 49 years, I have never really done much catfishing. I was more into driving to SE OK or Ark for some trout fishing. That was until a couple of weeks ago. My GF is from Prairie du Chien, WI and while we were there, I fished everyday. Cats, Sheephead, Walleye, Bass, Sturgeon, Blue Gill and Northern Pike. On one of the last days, her uncle (an avid catter) took us out on the Miss and we had a blast. Fast forward a couple of weeks. We live in Mckinney and have a few ponds in our subdivision. First trip out and we landed a nice cat. Since then, between all the catfish research I'm doing online, I'm out at one of the ponds trying all the new stuff I'm learning. Last night we were out there relaxing. My GF throwing doing her best to try and land some bass while I'm sitting in the chair waiting for a bite. Low and behold...I got what I was waiting for. When that sucker got up the bank, I was floored. There's no way this guy is supposed to be in this pond. This pond is not that old. Needless to say we were both excited. My biggest cat by far. I look forward to learning more from reading the threads in this forum and applying those lessons on my upcoming trips.

Way to go! Congrats! At first with the little pic & its color, I figured a Blue or Channel. However, after blowing the pic up, I see it's a Yellow. If you haven't checked out my Catfish Calendar (posted in the thread- "Lynn's Catfish Calendar"), you might ought to. This week, my Calendar notes the greatest pull from Sunday 2nd thru Friday 6th was YC (YellowCat). And my PYC [Personal YellowCat Days] days (separate from the Calendar), is based on the actual pattern of roam-feed for the Yellows. Those PYC days fell on Wednesday & Thursday (8th & 9th) of this week.

Back when I was first researching Yellows (late 70s & early 1980s), I had read that in 4 years, one could reach 10 pounds, and in 8 years- 20 pounds.

Catfish Lynn...thank you. A yellow cat huh? That's cool....I do believe this would be a first for me. Now to go check out your calendar.

David

Wow great going MckinneyCat!!!

Nice Blue...Guys will put those in the community ponds so the kids have a legendary story about the ol monster catfish in the pond that they caught. My first 20 lbr came out of a community pond when I was 11.

Congrats on the biggy. That is a dandy.

OOPS! a glitch

The head looks like a Channel or Blue, but from what I see in the two pics that you had after clicking on them, I saw no forked tail, of which a Yellow does not have. Only Blues & Channels, and perhaps the WhiteCat does as well. Plus looking at the curve of the tail, is typical of the way a Yellow will do. Plus the plume on the dorsal fin is typical of a Yellow. I will have to blow up the pics fuurther to get more details.

Regardless, if it a Yellow or Blue, Blues bite pretty good on YC days, but will really tear ya up on BC days. Normally a Yellow will be a mottled or green in color. But after being out of the water, they do turn a yellowish. The head on this one seems to mock a Channel or Blue. As to the color, a gray to grayish blue, Jeff & James, my two prize Catfish Calendar students, their first 62 pound Op was bluish gray.

I will try to blow up the pics even greater to look at the tail later tonight. Do you have a 3rd or other pics, that shows the tail fin better. I've only caught one hybrid that looked to be a mix between a Channel & Yellow.

El Gato is correct, in that somebody may have dumped a fair size one in the pond, just to see what might turn up down the road. Especially to a kid's delight.

OK, I blew both up. I see no forked tail, typical of a Yellow. But the front half resembles a meaty head like a Channel. Did it have a forked tail? If not, then you have one of the rarer hybrids.

Good job

Here's a better image of the tail.

Looks like a fat Blue to me. Good Job!!!

OK, there's the tail. It definitely has a fork, so it is a Channel or Blue, not a YellowCat.

The other two pics, when looking at the smaller pics, looked to be a Channel or Blue. But I could not see any fork in its tail when I blew the pics up larger. There were two characteristics that drew me to conclude it might be a hybrid Yellow which is rare.

I am thinking it is a hybrid, but I lean towards a Channel due to several things. But again, the anal fins on the bottom usually determine which it really is (or if a hybrid, which it leans to more than the other).

The Channel will have a curved type fin row (from the stomach towards the tail), while a Blue will be sharper & straight. Also the fin ray count is different--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Channel Catfish
A Body with dark spots (spots may be absent in large adults)
B Outer margin of anal fin rounded, and anal fin with 24 to 29 rays

Blue Catfish
A Body without dark spots
B Outer margin of anal fin straight, and anal fin with 30 to 36 rays
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Normally, a Channel when older will have a puffier or meaty head compared to a Blue, plus they tend to lose their spots or mottled olive color (not always). And a Channel or Hybrid can range into a greyish color which will make you think it is Blue right off.

As I noted (earlier I think), Blues also tend to hit pretty good during YC days on my Catfish Calendar. As far as I know, the Calendar works across the USA. Definitely in Texas & Oklahoma. I think one TFFer uses it up now in Wisconsin or Michigan. I have yet to hook up with anybody in Europe to see if the YellowCat (YC) days or my separate PYC days works on the Sheatfish (which resembles the Yellow on the Head end, but looks like an eel on the tail end.

Nice post and fish. Good job.

Welcome to the Forum👍

Welcome to the forum and to catfishing!! Many people do not realize that some community ponds were there well before the community. Not far from you in Stonebridge some of the community ponds there hold some record breaking fish. It's just private and I can't go. Back in 2010 my daughter caught a record redear out of Stonebridge in that lake behind the Adriatica Village, next to the chapel. Stonebridge also has a record common carp in it. I will not say which pond, but I will say it must have a lot of golf balls in his gut because it is the biggest carp I have ever seen.

Town Lake in McKinney also holds fish bigger than you would think. I have been carp fishing out there and have had fish run with my bait and never looked back. Ending up straightening 1 hook and another 2 popping off. I assume catfish.