Went out to Grapevine late yesterday and headed for a spot I've been wanting to fish for a while. Since the wind was slow, I was able to make it across the big open area up by the sandy peninsula - northwest side. Anyway, I made to the little creek around 4p and was just drifting up through the quiet water and -bam! Drag started peeling off my little pole. Grabbed the pole and hung on. Thought for sure I'd hooked into a gar because there were so many rolling up around me. Fought it for a few minutes, had trouble getting it to surface, so I know it wasnt a garfish, which i was glad for because what heck am i gonna do with a gar in my little yak
So, fight kept going and I was determined not to have this thing break my 6lb test. Finally boated the biggest blue cat I've ever caught.
So far, it's the biggest fish yet from the yak. CPR'd

Caught a few more channels and a drum in that creek. Pretty nice day overall!

26 inches + (my measuring stick didnt go that far )


I think it was a female with eggs - really fat


Big ugly fish

nice!

They are slimmy... But dang they are fun!!

Oh yea, that is some good fish for the skillet.

I love to catch those big cats out of a kayak!

Good job, nothing like catching blues on light tackle.

Nice blue

Very nice whisker fish!

very nice congrats on the Yak/PB

Yep, it's fun for sure. Do you eat blue cats that are that big?
I certainly kept the 18in channel cats from that day. Getting a small stockpile in freezer...

(Oh yeah, I think I fixed the pic links. Hate it when all ou get are those litle red X's)

If I'm catching smaller cats then no I wouldn't have kept it to eat, but I've had times where I like to put fish in the freezer, and then I limit the size I keep to under 10 lbs. but I rarely have that problem.

Biggest blue cat I've caught out of my kayak was a guesstimate 25#er.

Had her along side my kayak and as I tried to lift her in, she made one last run and the hook pulled loose. Quick release, and no picture, so it never happened!

So, my question about whether one eats big catfish or not relates more to whether they are *good* to eat, rather than making the choice to keep based on moral or conservation minded decisions.
I have always been of the school where bigger fish = inferior quality - based on a lot of salt water fishing experience. For example - I would eat a 20in redfish, but probably not a 32in redfish (discount any state regs and slots - I'm using those numbers for example only) because i think the smaller ones make better table fare.
If fresh-caught fish is normally just a treat to the casual fisherman, not a staple food source, then what is the cut off limit for making good table fare?

I don't think they taste as good. Over 4 or 5 lbs they have a different flavor to me. And not a favorable one.

All sizes are edible but the smaller one's have better flavor and meat texture, and seem to keep better and not get a strong fishy smell or funky taste when kept frozen for a longer period of time.

My favorite fish to stock the freezer is white bass, and then catfish second, but I don't like to keep any fish frozen over a couple of months.

First and foremost, great catch, especially on 6# line. As for eating the catch, I listen closely to my wife's advice. She says "Don't bring home fish from the lake. If we are going to eat fish, we'll go to Red Lobster"....

Nothing better then fish that was swimming around just a few hours ago! I let the big guys go and only keep the smaller ones.