What type of catfish???

Looks like a mudcat to me.

 

Looks like a Channel catfish to me.

 

That's what I was going to say, but I'm no expert.......... I just eat 'em.

 

That's a channel cat

 

Channel cat.

 

The tail certainly makes it look like a channel catfish, but the color just don't seem right for what we call a channel catfish here. What did it taste like!

 

Although the coloration is standard Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) for my area I took notice in the initial description of the "slightly forked tail.”

The first picture clearly shows the anal fin and upon enlarging it, and inverting the colors I can only count 20 anal fin rays indicating that this fish is possibly a White Catfish (Ameiurus catus) that is naturally found in North Carolina.

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) have 24 -30 anal fin rays
White Catfish (Ameiurus catus) 18-23

If you still have the fish in hand a positive identification can be made by counting those anal fin rays.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/catfish/white/

 

I'd agree it's a white catfish. I counted 21 rays. 21 or 22 it still looks way too short to be a Channel. (Did it "bark" at all? LOL! I use to catch a lot of channels and they bark or grunt like crazy! Don't know if WHite Catfish do, but hey there's another tidbit of useless info - lol!) Forked tail says it's not a bullhead. No spots typ of a Channel, but bigger Channels can lose their spots. Anal fin is the only true distinguisher. And that anal fin says White Cat to me...

 

Here in Mississippi, people drift fish for catfish in Pickwick Lake and they are always catching what they call "Humpback White Catfish" and it is nothing more than a color variation of the Blue. Just like Hand Painted Brim are a color variation of the Bluegill. Just food for thought.

 

Ken,
It resembles the 7lb 6oz channel I caught on 2lb line ice-fishing. Not sure though, Marty's probably right. Nice job on the molds too......

 

Brian, check out the difference between your anal (hee-hee) fin and Ken's Cat. Yours has considerably more spines/rays as a Channel would have. Nice catch btw! Never really ice-fished b4. Looks "cool"!

 

good point Marty....and like I said you are probably right.
Ice fishing is fun but really just killing time before the hot spring fly fishing starts. I can tell you catching that cat while I was out just catching a few gills for dinner was a BIG surprise. I think I had that cat up to the hole a half a dozen times before I pulled it through....
btw, thanks for the email and video.....sending a response later today.

 

I did a repro using a Blue blank modified for a guy a while back that caught the California State 6 pound line class record Channel Cat. It was somewhere around 40 pounds. The guy actually had it weighed on a certified scale at the local marina and then released it thinking it was just another big Blue. Lo and behold the pics got around and his local DNR called him and informed him that it was a Channel Cat and not a Blue. He's in the IGFA record books for 6 pound test. Could you imagine catching a fish THAT big in warm water with only 6 pound test? Crazy!

 

Not a tale tale sign by any means but it is missing the typical spots for a channel and the head seems too beefy as well. Looks to me like a typical mudcat or flathead or bull head as some call it.

 

thats a channel cat , the ones we have here are that color also with some browner ones.