What did I catch?

I went catfishing the other night and kept catching these funny looking catfish! Can someone tell me what kind of catfish this is? They sure do eat big ol live baits and bend the heck out of a rod! My buddy said they weren't good to eat so we threw them all back!

Looks like either a mudcat or yellowcat . I've heard they don't taste good unless you put them is a tank like a cattle troff full of water and let them irrigate for a couple weeks but I've never eat one of those so can't be positive just how they taste .

You have one of the best tasting catfish there is right there. Mr. yellow cat.

Flat head/yellow cat/Op good eating.

Yeah I think his buddy wanted him to throw them back so he could come back and catch them!

Nothing wrong with a big yella

FlatHead Yellow App and is it still 18 inches for a legal one?

That is a YellowCat. That one would be considered an Op (short for Opelousas, meaning it is a spotted or splotchy lookong pigment). As to my experience & catches, the Ops seem to be shorter & stockier than the PJs (Plain Jane's), which have no spots or splotches, plus seem to be longer & more pliable (not as muscular). Nevertheless, they are all YellowCats. Just variants or sub-species.

Anyway, YellowCats must be at least 18 inches nowadays as to minimum size in Texas. There is no maximum size as I am aware.

My Uncle said he spoke to one actual diver at Lake Whitney & the diver said there ARE Cats bigger than us (humans) near the dam, as he had seen them.

As to current Texas record, as to a person getting it certified, I think it was about 114 pounder out of Lake Livingston. Lake Limestone has a record of 107 (or 109) pounder on a throwline.

I currently had estimated "The Giant", one that me & two prize YC & Catfish Calendar students have been after since about 2009 or 2010, at about 115 pounds. But after last weekends encounter, it seemed to just keep awakening & caught me offguard. It at first felt like I had one. Then I realized from the tug (the way YC tugs in a certain rhythm by nodding to the left & right), it might be about 18 to 20 pounds. However, about 2 to 3 hooks away, the tug also became a pull, or a very powerful nod. I then took note that I had a 60+ Op for sure. In other words, at least a 60 pounder. I already had my big dipnet out of its "chute" & available. As I got to the hook before the one it was on (#10 from one side of the trotline), it brushed the bottom of my new 12 foot Alumacraft. I think it at that moment, it clicked, and I realized I may not be in a good situation. It was starting to look like I might just possibly have "The Giant" fully hooked. Even though I have raised the front end by a few treated 2x4s & firmly mounted, I could still be in danger of this monster dipping the front end or pulling off to the side & rolling me over. This Cat is like a tractor. It never gives, once it goes, until either it spits the hook out or rips away from it. This was the first time, that it seems I definitely had a hook in it solid. That means we were about to tango one on one. Before I grabbed the Net, it burst downward in one fleeting split second. It was like a big POP, as my hand came up with the main line from the "give" now acquired. And sadly, there was rest of the leader now visble above water. The Giant took my hook as one of it probably "many" trophies. It snapped the hook off of the end of the leader. I had used size 36# braided green cord on the leader, size #36 green 3 strand twist for the main line & Crane 4/0 SS swivel. I had a plastic red bead on both side of the swivel, set tight with a brass brad on each side. It had only slid one brad out about 6 to 8 inches. Now whether it did it then or before, it is not known. It seems the braided cord has a white core inside the braids. If so, then for sure I will not be using braided anymore, if there is a chance of an internal core. I guess when Newt used green braided cord back in 1980, it did not have a core, but was solid braided. As to hook, I may have had one of these 3 types- Tru-Turn 7/0 Perma Steel "J", Mustad 7/0 stump hook SS 3X (short J), or Mustad 9/0 stump hook SS 3X (short J).

Also, I am sure this past summer, that is probably what you had on the line when Tom came up to assist, to keep you from getting yanked out of the boat. I am sure Tom knows, as do I, the power of these brutes & how if you let your guard down, they take control.

I was told this past weekend of one big Yellow caught on Limestone in 2002. A small old man brought it by in his short bed pickup. Nancy said it was curled around some, even though the bed was 6 feet long. She said that was the biggest Yellow she has ever seen. She said she wondered how the small guy even got it in the boat.


I am sure you guys threw it back, back into the ice chest, unless of course it was under 18" long.

I think that�s the first time I�ve ever heard some one say a yellow cat doesn�t taste good.

My Indian friend told me Littlefeather translates to sandbagger in Comanche language! Nice fish you old pirate...Tell the truth amigo, you were reeling in a channel cat when it hit!

I`m sorry "little feller" but I`m not buyin yur story

As I sat alone in the cool night air I observed the honey yellow moon hanging lazily in night sky. I found myself on my boat daydreaming the night away! I daydreamed back to the youthful years gone by when my Dad was still alive. I remember well a night just as this night when Dad's voice interrupted the song of the crickets through the darkness. He said, "Son, no matter what we catch, never let truth stand in the way of a good fish story"!

LOL!!!!!!!!!

I'm another voice that yellow cat is not the very top notch that so many claim. I've eat them for over 60 years and they fall behind blue cat that is cleaned properly.
You better clean a yellow real good and get all the red and fat off.

I agree, YellowCat can taste really good, but it is rich in Vitamin F (so rich, it will give you a lot of gas to pass). However, BlueCat does not seem to do that. The prime BlueCat is 12 to 14 pounders. You slice the meat down the center bone & rake the meat off. Of the two long back straps, you slice directly across about 3/4" to 1" thick. When you lay them out, they look like a "B" or "8". You will also notice they are translucent & flirt a sort of rainbow look. Deep Fry in a pot with Mrs. Tucker's grease & the breading will be slightly crisp. But when you break it open, it flakes Oh so good. Have a small bowl of ice cold Del Monte ketchup handy & dip & eat & dip & eat until all gone.

This^^^

I mainly bass fish, when I accidentally catch a blue cat I throw it back, when I accidentally catch a flat head it goes home with me.

Yellow cats prefer live prey, Blue cats are the buzzards of the water, they�ll eat on a rotten carcass.

I was always of the impression that Blues are more discriminating in their tastes and that the Channel Cats are the true buzzards. People seem to fish with all kinds of nasty, stinky bait for channel cats. With blues, it seems to be cut bait such as shad or blue gill. Granted, cut bait is not live prey, it�s just pre-chewed a little bit.

The ones that do not taste good are the Mud cat,and Bullhead. Worst tasting catfish.

I would have ate that as long as it's legal because I've never caught a flat head much less ate one and I would like to try it to see what it taste like compared to channel and blues

I couldn't agree more I've had bullheads and they have too much of a muddy flavor although I have heard they make excellent flathead bait

Flatheads are good eating because they eat live fish. However, so do almost all catfish once they get above about 5 lbs. So have been known to scavenge on fresh dead stuff, and channel cats are often insect eaters, but flatheads are better eating nonetheless.

flathead best eating fish period, especially stomach meat

+1....Love them Flatties!!

That right there is the ole Yellow Cat, or Flat Head in texas. Great eating contrary to popular belief,
if you dont like the strong smell of fish, always soak the fillets in salt brine, and shiner bock overnight, save half the bottle for morning wakeup call.

Lemon juice over mesquite coals at about 3 to 4 minutes per side, not too much or gets blacken too much,
and man you got a meal!

We fished the upper colorado years ago above Brady TX, live perch 3 to 5"in. in length for bait, fish night of new moon, and I promise you will load up the ice box!...


Good luck....

I love mudcats!! They catch big ol' yella's! That's what I hear anyway

IMO, a flat head/op has white meat and the best eating cat swimming. He eats live bait only, and caught quite a few on Toledo Bend flipping jigs for Bass. I don't eat mud cats, and I feel that after the water temperature passes 80 degrees the blues and channels tend to have a strong taste. The cooler the water temperature is the better tasting they are.

I have to agree with Blue's tasting better than yellows. Yellows are good, but blues taste excellent. I wouldn't feed my dogs a channel cat. Channels get tossed back in no matter how big they are.

Surely you jest or you are passing on information that someone who doesn't know what they are talking about stated. Blue cat are probably the most efficient of all predator fish. But I'd expect such from a bass fisherman.

flatheads are the apex predator in fresh water

I probably just don't know what I'm talking about. Every once in a blue moon I'll catch a blue or a channel cat on a bass lure but most often it is a Flathead. Most catfish pursuers will say a flathead is the best eating and from this I based my opinion. Am I 100% wrong?

Gator gar

I like Miller Lights and Chevrolet...oh yea and mono Filament

Time of year and water quality have a lot to do with how any fish taste but especially catfish, you catch a big flathead out of some of our local lakes here when she's actively spawning and you want even want it in the Boat but you catch that same fish out of clean water in late fall or winter it will taste completely different and knowing how to bleed and clean a big flathead or Blue makes a lot of difference
use to catch Flatheads in the 30 to 50 lb range from a swift clear water river where I grow up, my taught me how to bleed those big fish and that was the whitest, cleanest tasting fish I've ever tasted

Lot of fancy and insightful comments on this thread in regards to catfish meat. Idk bout all that but I will say that I've cleaned and eaten quite a few catfish in my life. Flatheads have always been the best, bar none. From 18" to 60 pounds. It's not like filleting a Blue or Channel. More like field dressing. Belly and cheek meat end up on my plate.

�Cool thing about the internet is you can say anything and quote anyone� - Abraham Lincoln

I simultaneously love and hate you right now.

lol

That's called a superposition.

Interesting how threads can change direction. I "accidentally" changed colors since I started this thread. Lol! Carry on fella's! I always enjoy the interaction....

I like blue and yella because it makes green!

Btw, posting pics with no info is considered baiting! Where's Tom? Thanks for the Gummy trick Tom!

That�s fish has an excellent tan! No doubt you caught him sunbathing shallow.

Could have been Gato. First thing I noticed was her fat mouth! I knew right away that she' been eating muscles!

Use to catch lots of yellow cats on the San Gabriel about a 1/4 -1/2 mile below where dam is now before the lake was built. Tasted great from running water, from the lake not so good