New cat regualtions coming

Saw this in the local paper today
Cat Changes

Leave it alone! It's not the weekend fisherman that is catching and keeping those big blue cats.
Nobody who fishes for channel cats care if they reach "trophy size" and are only looking for eater size cats anyway!

I wish they would protect all fish over 30”. We’re finally starting to see the slot fish increase in numbers with more teeners and 20s finally starting to come out of Lewisville. Seems like removing the 30-45 inch slot limit and allowing guys to keep one over 30” is a step backwards though. I do like that only 5 fish over 20” is allowed. A 20inch blue is only 3 lbs so this should help get the size up. Release all fish over 10lbs!

Those regulations are pretty confusing. Basically five different sets of rules to remember. I think they should keep the standard 12 minimum length limit and maybe have only 1 or two fish over 30 inches. Keep it simple and allow for very few big fish to taken out of the lake.

Very true. The smaller ones are the best eating.

In actuality, BlueCats at about 12 to 16#, mainly right at 14# are prime eating, simply the very best of the best, be it Blues, Channels, or Yellows. 3 to 5 pound Blues are OK, but nothing in comparison to the taste of the 14 pound Blue.

They need to address the trotline regulations. I find too many abandoned trot lines and trot lines with dead, rotting fish floating.

Now if we could just get carp classified as a game fish so guys can’t shoot 40 carp a night just to throw them on the bank, I’d be a happy camper. Bow fishing is probably good for keeping the carp populations reasonable, and allow for the fish to grow bigger, but the waste of carp and gar is a little crazy.

For eating, I like blues in the 6 to 7 lb range. And, since I despise cleaning my own fish, I will generally only keep two when I keep them. It usually makes three or four meals for me and the wife. After being cooked reheat them in an air fryer, works great! Much better than microwaving them. I turn everything else back.