# Interesting Blue Cat info



## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/research/bluecatfishmanagementresearch.pdf

I that doesn't make a case for CPR, I don't know what does.


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## albertking (Nov 2, 2005)

that study was incomplete cuz they couldn't catch enuff fish over 20 lbs to get an accurate aging on big fish and the article was done to get folks to start releasing bigger fish

i heard that after they put the results of that study out (in another lake) they shocked up so many 30 lb class blues that they said they could literally walk across them ... some folks in OK say they were fixin' to change the regs up there but for some reason the changes never came & could very well be due to the later shockings

ifn ya wanna CPR, have at it ... or on the other hand ifn ya wanna eat'um, have at it

funny how we see a study as the gospel when it supports our own view


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## obiewan57 (Sep 14, 2005)

Regardless what the surveys say. You learn to fish from experiences you have while trying to fish, how deep, what bait, kind of gear, etc. If you fish enough you will learn that you catch more smaller fish than large ones, think about it...if there were just as many large ones, wouldn't you catch more of them? Lots of people never catch a 50# fish, figure it out for yourself, just like you would what kind of bait to use. 

I agree, if you catch it, you can eat it or you can release it, that is up to you. For my 2 cents worth, eat the better tasting ones (less than 10#) and release the brood fish for another battle with another angler or for spawning. If you read up, the larger the fish, the more eggs she will lay. Just like managing your bank account, each person can help manage our fisheries. 

I have heard of people catching 10 fish over 20#. Now what you gonna do with 200# of fish? Put it in the freezer until it freezer burns (I know, frozen right it will keep for maybe 3 years, done that when I used to raise fingerlings for sale).


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

albertking said:


> .............
> ifn ya wanna CPR, have at it ... or on the other hand ifn ya wanna eat'um, have at it
> 
> funny how we see a study as the gospel when it supports our own view


I agree. If you wanna eat 'em eat 'em. As long as there legal. Makes no difference to me.

While I definitely practice and believe in CPR, I never said I thought the study was the gospel. I said it made a great case for CPR. However, I'm a tad offended that you insinuate that I some sort of blind parroting robot with no ability to think for myself or see a different point of view.


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## albertking (Nov 2, 2005)

TXPalerider said:


> I agree. If you wanna eat 'em eat 'em. As long as there legal. Makes no difference to me.
> 
> While I definitely practice and believe in CPR, I never said I thought the study was the gospel. I said it made a great case for CPR. However, I'm a tad offended that you insinuate that I some sort of blind parroting robot with no ability to think for myself or see a different point of view.


i didn't insinuate anything of the kind ... mayby you read sumpin in there that i didn't type



> Regardless what the surveys say. You learn to fish from experiences you have while trying to fish, how deep, what bait, kind of gear, etc. If you fish enough you will learn that you catch more smaller fish than large ones, think about it...if there were just as many large ones, wouldn't you catch more of them? Lots of people never catch a 50# fish, figure it out for yourself, just like you would what kind of bait to use.
> 
> I agree, if you catch it, you can eat it or you can release it, that is up to you. For my 2 cents worth, eat the better tasting ones (less than 10#) and release the brood fish for another battle with another angler or for spawning. If you read up, the larger the fish, the more eggs she will lay. Just like managing your bank account, each person can help manage our fisheries.
> 
> I have heard of people catching 10 fish over 20#. Now what you gonna do with 200# of fish? Put it in the freezer until it freezer burns (I know, frozen right it will keep for maybe 3 years, done that when I used to raise fingerlings for sale).


first off the fish under 10# are not the best tasting fish ... & statements like that are of no value at all in supporting your point

i agree there are far more small fish than large ones but the main contributer to that fact is so many small fish get eaten by humans & are not allowed to grow up ... if all i wanted to do was have an almost endless supply of baby fish to eat then your management ideas of our fisheries of keeping all the fish you want to under 10# would be great

i also agree that big fish lay more eggs but lets talk management ... lest say we was raisin' chickens, hogs etc ... common sense would not tell you to eat the babies ... no you would feed'um out to butchering size

flatheads & blues have the potential to sure nuff get big .. why not let'um? ... i wont eat a flat under 15# cuz it's such a waste & in my opinion is stupid & goes against common sense

this management thing goes more than one way & if ya'll that are stuck on "CPR of anything over 10#" would be willing to alter that somewhat we can all be happy ... this one way carp don't cut it though


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Albert, I'm not gonna pisz back and forth with you all day on this, but I will address a few of your comments.

1. In your orginal post, if there is such and over abundance of 10# fish, why couldn't they catch enough to get a sample?

2. Show me a 10# blue/channel that tastes anywhere near as good as a 2# blue/channel. The smaller fish DO taste better. Unless, you like fatty, bloody meat. (yellows are different)

3.You cannot compare raising hogs to raising fish. Hogs have a dozen or so babies, fish have hundres of thousands to millions. Each require a completely different management strategy.

4. A far as CPR, feel free to do whatever floats your boat within the law. You'll get no complaints from me. But, you might look at the logo at the top of this forum. The forum was created to support catfsherman and CPR. And that is what it will continue to do. If you don't feel that is something you can support, or at least tolerate, you might look for another forum of like minded individuals.

Finally, if you want to get people to support your opinion, please post management data to suppport it. Otherwise, you're wasting your breath.


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## capn (Aug 11, 2005)

albertking said:


> i didn't insinuate anything of the kind ... mayby you read sumpin in there that i didn't type


Yes, you did. Your post struck me as rude from the get go.

I am not nearly as into CPR as Palerider and some other friends are. But, if you seriously want to argue that big catfish taste better than little catfish, you've either got no palate for fish or you are just arguing to argue.


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## jackieblue (Jun 13, 2006)

Biologist do studies but you always have people who know more than they do if the study differs from there inrooted beliefs.
Albert is of the opinion that whatever he catches he eats and thats fine. The younger more conservation minded are practicing catch&release on the bigger fish in hopes of having some impact on future generations.
A blue cat doesn't get to 30# overnight and are excellent brood stock. I along with several others are working with TPWD to get the daily bag limit changed to only allow one large fish per day say over 25". Getting the law passed will be the easy part but all of the catch and keep everything will continue to do the same thing as always, regardless of the law. 
In rebutal I practiced catch&release long before I became a guide, I release over 300 blue cat over 20# every winter. I also release every red drum I catch at Fairfield.
I've eat the bigger fish when I was a kid and no way do they have the taste of 1.5-3# blue or channel. 
Like anything else some people like cheap beer or wine but most others have a different taste for somethng of a little higher quality.
Not to mention the high mercury and other contimanates in the larger older fish. Eatem if you want to I'll pass.


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## rambunctious (May 30, 2004)

*Cpr*

Trust me a 2lb taste a lot better than 10-20lb. Most of the people holding up 5-10 large cats are just like the hunter running all over town with his deer straped to the hood,one h--l of a wast. CPR is the only eay.I have to agree with Palerider all the way.
Just my 2cts.
Terry


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## albertking (Nov 2, 2005)

oh dear jackieblue ... some years ago i had plenty of respect for ya man but it seems that you have now come full circle ... & you can't even tell the truth at this time ... i do wonder whose words these are from just a couple of years ago



> Quit believeing all the **** you've been told and past down from idiot to idiot. i don't keep and eat big blues because I'm looking out for the long term effect on the lake and the future of fishing.
> You are crazy as a road lizzard if you think big blues don't have good firm meat and taste just as good as a 1.5 pound blue or channel. I've eat many a big blue 20-30 lb and they are just fine, great as a matter of fact. I've told you and some others have to, but keep being biased about some little dink yellow meated channel tasting better, its pure unadulaterated BS.
> But here again Maytag is the ultimate know it all about catfish taste, yeah right. Some people eat the only thing they can catch, and have a bad opinion because of one some bad experiences with a certain type fish. I'll lay you odd and bet you any amount of money if the right person cooks the fish you can't tell the difference. Put up or shut up...
> Not just my opinon but a matter of fact.


BTW jackie when ya'll get this new law passed are gonna then allow your clients to keep on fish per trip over 25" ?

with threads like this & ya'll wonder why i came up with the term CPR nazis ... i can respect ya'lls opinion but it's hard to respect some of ya'll as a man because of all the BS you spew & the agenda you are [email protected] bent on crammin' down everybody elses throat just to satisfy your own selfishness

i guess if my business depended on it i just might get in bed with the state too ... who knows


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Albert....my business doesn't depend one bit on catfish. So don't paint me with that brush.

Nobody has tried to cram CPR down your throat here. If you will go back a read you'll see that. I'll say it agian, do what you want within the law. Makes no difference to me. In fact, do whatever you conscience tells you is OK. I don't give a rat's arse.

But, the minute you start feeling uncomfortable with the company around here, your more than welcome to leave. In fact, I would encourage it. Nobody is logging you on against you will.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

A friend of mine who works at the TRA gave me the results of a study that was incrediable regarding the growth rates of catfish on Lake Livingston. According to this study channel catfish darn near need a cane to get 8 lbs or more. Blues did a little better putting on size over the years. I don't think they really addressed flatheads.

The best eating catfish in most fisheries are
1. A 12 to 20 lb flathead
Also #1. is a channel cat 2 to 3.5 lbs

2. a blue anywhere from 2 to 20 lbs depending on where they are caught.

3. any bullhead
4. Horned pout

There are some exotic catfish out there, especially in streams with good flowing springs that feed them. In the hill country rivers you can catch whitecatfish that I have caught up to 8lbs. That may be as big as they get. There are many varitions of channel type catfish, willow cats, spring cats, and others that require beautiful clear water with no pollution. None of them get over about 2lbs. All of them are fine eating.
A blue caught below the Livingston dam over 6 or 7 lbs is too fat to eat, really nasty. One from the same spot that weights 3 to 4 lbs is excellent table fair. You have to fish a place for a while and figure out which is the best fish to take and which is the best to leave.
For the most part a blue over 20lbs goes back. At that size they are fantastic spawners releasing millions of eggs with wisedoom. Put em back.
BTW, why are there no good freswater fish icons to use?


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## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

I love to fish ,any fish, but I'm not a big fish eater. A few years back I was at a fish fry and my first bite was most fat, that was my last piece for that day and was large blues (20-30lbs). A friend of mine told me if you trim any fish right it'll eat good so he prepped up a big ugly (looked to be around 45lb blue and it was plump) turn out to be a fine meal. Same goes for large bull reds if you're willing to work for what little meat they have to offer. And as for catch and release,to each his own, thats why we have fish management working off millions of dollars from license we buy not to mention the tax revenue from sporting goods to tell us how we can harvest and how we can'nt. Some people take it up on themselves not to trust our fish management but truth be known there are more who think they're too strick on the limits and such. And no I'm not one of those, but I do miss the old day's when I could fry up a 10-12 inch speck whole where I could also eat the crispy tail , but I'm like everyone else ,we all have to change with the the times.


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## albertking (Nov 2, 2005)

TXPalerider said:


> Albert....my business doesn't depend one bit on catfish. So don't paint me with that brush.
> 
> Nobody has tried to cram CPR down your throat here. If you will go back a read you'll see that. I'll say it agian, do what you want within the law. Makes no difference to me. In fact, do whatever you conscience tells you is OK. I don't give a rat's arse.
> 
> But, the minute you start feeling uncomfortable with the company around here, your more than welcome to leave. In fact, I would encourage it. Nobody is logging you on against you will.


for some strange reason i don't believe ya ... i think you would cram it down my throat in a heartbeat along with Mr jackieblue



> I along with several others are working with TPWD to get the daily bag limit changed to only allow one large fish per day say over 25"


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Move on Albert. It's getting old.


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## Buck Master (Oct 19, 2004)

I agree! A dead horse is a dead horse. Do what ya want as long as its legal. Sounds like your trying to cram your belief down everyone else's throats from what I read. No need to drag it out any further.


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## capn (Aug 11, 2005)

I don't think he'll be able to drag it around too much further now...


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## obiewan57 (Sep 14, 2005)

Hope he is gone, most of us that practice release over 10#, believe that it is what we do because we want to. I have not seen one person, other than albertking, try to force their ideas on the next person(rules for your own boat are for your boat, not every boat).

Everyone but albertking thinks each should make their own decision. albertking seems to think if he picks a fight about anything it will make his day. Like Palerider said...Buzz off. Time to let others catch and release or catch and eat at their discretion.


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## McBuck (Mar 24, 2006)

albertking said:


> i agree there are far more small fish than large ones but the main contributer to that fact is so many small fish get eaten by humans & are not allowed to grow up ... if all i wanted to do was have an almost endless supply of baby fish to eat then your management ideas of our fisheries of keeping all the fish you want to under 10# would be great


I'm sorry that I have arrived to this discussion late, but I have been traveling and not keeping up with the board. However, I would like to put in my two cents...

One thing that popped out at me from Mr. King's arguement is the quote above about the FACT that the reason is there are more small fish than large ones because the humans are eating them all before they grow up. I think this statement shows an incredible lack of reasoned thought about the subject.

Any time you have a fish or other animal that takes a long time to mature, the odds are increased that something will happen to it before it reaches maturity. Out of the millions and millions of catfish that are hatched each year, more of these will fall victim to a natural demise such as predatation, disease, and weather than to anglers' hooks. Each age class will grow smaller as it matures as due to combination of ALL of the mortality factors it faces. That is a FACT. Daily bag limits are put in place to ensure that the human pressure does not adversely impact overall population.

It is also a fact that the larger mature fish produce more eggs than the smaller younger fish. It is reasonable conclusion that you would want to protect to the greatest extent possible the relatively small number of fish that make it to this point because their breeding capability expands exponentially as their size increases. A single 30 pounder will produce as many eggs as a number of 2 pounders. Taking the larger fish out of the mix is more detrimental to the reproductive capability of the population than taking the 2 pounder. That's just common sense.

I don't think that anyone would argue that the bass fisheries where slot limits have been implemented have benefited from the idea of protecting the most productive age classes of the poplulation. This type of management has resulted in higher quality fisheries for everyone to enjoy.

Since it is legal to take the larger fish, it is a matter of personal choice whether you practice CPR, Mr. King. While the idea of CPR is often promoted by members of this forum, I don't see anyone cramming it down your throat. I also don't see anyone else resorting to name calling as you have done - "CPR Nazis", "Elitist", etc. I know there are other members who do not practice CPR but don't feel the need to attack those who wish to. The purpose of the forum is to share ideas and information. TxPalerider's orginal post was offered in this spirit. If you had a contradictory study, you should have offered it rather posting a general attack. In reviewing your previous posts, it seems that this is your history in regard to this subject.


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## golffisherbob (Aug 11, 2005)

*Well stated....*

Thank you for the words of wisdom as I said in the title.......Well stated.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

We done?


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## Magnolia (Dec 2, 2007)

Just so ya'll will know......I caught 3 in the 25lb range this weekend and turned them all loose. (after a picture was taken, of course) Dont want anyone accusing me of no CPR but the fact is that I had enough 2lb'ers to make several meals.


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Glad to here you did well Magnolia.



shadslinger said:


> We done?


Yep!


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