# New to jugging - Blue cat size question



## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

So I've searched the forum and can't seem to find an answer for my questions...

What is the largest size blue cat you will keep for taste? 

What about for conservation?


Thanks,
T-BONE (tpool)


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## dieselpwr62 (Oct 19, 2015)

Personally I only keep 8lbs and less, thats why CPR, " catch photograph release " you have the bragging rights and the memories. Good luck, jugging is a blast.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Thanks dieselpwr62!

What about other folks?

T-BONE (tpool)


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## Hamourkiller (Aug 15, 2005)

T-Bone
The largest catfish I have caught is around 50 lbs

Both Flathead and blue cat

Both are excellent table fare if handled correctly

Skin and fillet as normal, Cut into steaks, trim any red meat or fat, fry-bake-grill etc as normal. Do not forget that the bone section after fillet is good cooked as well. There is a pocket of meat just above each eye that has a baseball sized section of meat and is considered quite a delicacy.

I let my freezer determine my catch and release policy, once it is full,or nearly so,of various game and fish meat I will let the big ones go.


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## Catfish Kyle (Mar 7, 2016)

This fish was 53#, my PB on rod and reel, I have cooked a 30# blue but really could not tell the difference in taste as far as size goes. I now CPR all fish over 15# :dance:


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## Catfish Kyle (Mar 7, 2016)

Had to try again for picture.


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## ChuChu (Jan 23, 2010)

I don't keep any catfish over 3 pounds for eating.


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## Ducktracker (Aug 1, 2011)

I like keeping cats under 10 lbs. to eat.


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## BSchulte (Apr 21, 2014)

Typically for taste, nothing bigger than 15 lbs for me. But if I'm filling the freezer, anything legal and logical goes in the boat.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

A just legal cat fish, 12" is the best. The taste goes down from there as they get bigger.
One about 3 pounds is what I like as the taste is still good and the size of fillet is worth the work of cleaning the fish.
Any over 10 pounds are really great spawners and make millions of babies, and as they get bigger the more offspring they produce. Over 8 pounds and the taste starts to get stronger. I have cooked fish over 10 all the way to 20 pounds that were good eating after a lot of trimming. No where as good as a small one though.
So I like them from about 2# to 3# when I do go after eaters.


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## cwhitney (Sep 9, 2014)

I CPR all catfish above 10 pounds. Most of the time, I also release anything larger that 5 pounds. If I am frying them, I prefer the smaller ones. For grilling, blackening, or baking, I like them in the 2-4# range.


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## Rivercat1860 (Dec 10, 2014)

5lbs and under eat the best and are easiest to clean. So anything over 5 usually gets released, very rarely I will keep one in the 5-10 lb range. Good luck to your catfishing and have fun!

Red


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Thanks a lot everyone for their replies! I think I will personally start with keeping all up to 10lbs, then once I get the hang of this jugline thing will go down to about 5lbs. 

Thanks again!
T-BONE


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## HawgTied (Oct 8, 2012)

12 inches up to about 4 pounds are the best eating IMO. I've cleaned and eaten much larger ones, but the bigger fish are the breeders and you lose a lot of meat to trimming anyway. I CPR any over 10 pounds. If you do decide to keep the larger ones, trim the belly meat off the filet and remove the blood line. The belly meat is oily and taste real fishy when cooked and I believe that the blood line makes the filets taste very strong.


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## ChuChu (Jan 23, 2010)

Another reason I keep 3# or smaller, is that is about as big as I can get my hand around their head to hold while I fillet them.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Thanks for the cleaning tip HawgTied, and I agree ChuChu - if I had my way I'd stop at 3lbs, but I need to fill the freezer quick (channel cats are waaay behind on the bulkheads this year).

T-BONE (tpool)


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## Need2BFishin (Mar 24, 2016)

Personally I don't keep anything over 10lbs. but I know a lot of people that will keep anything that they catch especially when they are restocking their freezers. One way that I've heard of to make over 10lbers. taste better is to stake them out. One of my friends would stake his out 1-2 days for every 10lbs. before he would clean them. He said this would make them swim off their excess fat and get rid of the fishy taste also. Another way I've heard of is to trim them up as mentioned and then soak them over night in butter milk. Personally I don't know if either way really works but they would be worth a try before I would serve them up.


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## SwampRat (Jul 30, 2004)

I really like fish in my freezer. However, as a matter of principle, I CPR all fish over 10lb....Let those mommas go to make some more babies.

Our best to date is ~50lb and we've had many exciting moments with +15lb'ers. The kids love being on the lake at night and seeing these 'monsters' show up.


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## dk2429 (Mar 27, 2015)

Usually under 7-8 pounds


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## Postman (Oct 11, 2015)

Eat up to 6 pounds, bring 6-10 to me, release the rest.


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## jamesgreeson (Jan 31, 2006)

We have a general agreement on this board that ten pounds is the limit on size and fat taste.You don"t have to but it is generaly agreed on.


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## bearintex (Feb 7, 2006)

Blue- 8-10 pounds.

Yellow- as big as I feel like cleaning. Anything bigger than 10 gets hung on a hook with the tail cut off to bleed while I clean the smaller ones. If I have multiple large, then I start cleaning the smallest of them first, while bleeding the next largest. Then pull the one off the hook and add the next largest and so on. If you get the red meat off the filets as well as the "worm" that runs along the top and bottom edge, you'll never know the difference other than the grain size.

Last Memorial weekend we cleaned 6, all over 30, one better than 60. Fed a bunch of people in big groups. Never the first complaint about fishy taste. Once the Brazos drops below 47' here I will get greedy with them again.


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## Law Dawg (Mar 18, 2013)

bearintex said:


> Blue- 8-10 pounds.
> 
> Yellow- as big as I feel like cleaning. Anything bigger than 10 gets hung on a hook with the tail cut off to bleed while I clean the smaller ones. If I have multiple large, then I start cleaning the smallest of them first, while bleeding the next largest. Then pull the one off the hook and add the next largest and so on. If you get the red meat off the filets as well as the "worm" that runs along the top and bottom edge, you'll never know the difference other than the grain size.
> 
> Last Memorial weekend we cleaned 6, all over 30, one better than 60. Fed a bunch of people in big groups. Never the first complaint about fishy taste. Once the Brazos drops below 47' here I will get greedy with them again.


 That is exactly what we do, never had a complaint about taste, grain size is a little different but still taste great. We keep what we need on the big ones and throw the rest back.


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## Catfish Kyle (Mar 7, 2016)

Taste is a preference, to each their own, it all depends on how you cook them, big or small I make a ketchup/hot sauce mixture for dipping. Maybe that's why I can't tell the difference :walkingsm


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## lonepinecountryclub (Jul 18, 2010)

Shadslinger said it all. I definitely agree with that.


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## Tahoe06 (Feb 29, 2016)

Here is a nice 12#er released back as she was full of eggs. I have kept them this size before but only to stock up for the family fish fry. Much prefer the smaller 5# or less as they are easier to clean.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Nice fish Tahoe6!


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

Personally Size don't seem to matter as much as water they came from..Some lakes and waterways cause C fish to taste muddy/moldy..Sometimes trimming fat helps.Example Canyon lake vs Tawakoni (sorry for spell)


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## Omega (Jun 11, 2010)

*Big fish caution*

Remember the bigger the fish, the increase in deposited toxins in its flesh from the environment; limiting your size fish to younger fish is to your health advantage, the advise given above for moderate size fish is reasonable and valid.


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## tpool (Aug 21, 2005)

Good point Omega! I wasn't even considering that.

Thanks for all of the replies folks!

T-BONE (tpool)


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