Hi guys, long time reader here but new to posting. I was just wondering how big is too big for a cat to be before it's not a keeper? Now I've heard that the really huge ones are not good eatin', but I wouldn't know since the biggest I've ever caught was about 10 lbs.

I think the big ones taste just fine. I just dont like cleaning them. Its like butchering a hog, pain in the bottom.

I can clean a 10# and under with a electric knife and they seem to taste fine. Never cracked 10# either but with the slot limits on Waco couldn't keep a big one anyhow.

welcome aboard havoc
sure you will get plenty of feedback

i like to catch'um a few weeks after they hatch & cook'um up like a pot of beans

Throw Net or Dixie Dynamite under a floating light?

+1
About the biggest I've ever kept was around 15 and it tasted just fine. I ususlly just get a pic and weight and throw them back.
Welcome to the TFF HaVoC.

I only keep the ones that I can get in my boat.

i ate a 35lb blue and loved it..i like thick fillets so it works out for me

Largest I have eaten was 15lb and it was fine, I have had a filet slab off of a 30lb and honestly could not tell the difference.

Thx for the replies fellas. You guys are great!

I have eaten a 34lb blue and they taste fine.
I just do not keep them that big because I think they reproduce better and might have better genetics than the smaller ones.

Never ate a blue before. Does it taste the same as a channel?

I kept a 19lber have not tried it yet but probably will be great. I think from now on everything over 15 will go back maybe everything over 10 just to keep good genetics in the water

I have tasted meat from flat heads all the way up to 77 pounds, and blue cats all the way up to 65. Have tasted the meat from a 24 pound channel cat. They all tasted like the smaller versions, except they had larger flakes of meat.

I chuckle every time someone mentions the meat of larger catfish tasting bad, it is usually a sign that they have never actually eaten one.