01-29-2008, 10:14 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Catfish are like many other species. Not only can they vary in coloration from water to water but even in the same lake over the course of a year's time. As FSF has pointed out, the males assume a solid color at spawning time, which can range from dark black to pale blue. Most channel cats lose their spots once they get larger, so spots are not a good standard of judgment.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In the attached pics, the "Beer Cats" clearly shows the difference between females and males. As usual, the guy is the one with the beer. It also has different colors and a noticeably larger head and skinnier body...by comparison.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Don't fret it. I have been involved in plenty of challenges over the years on whether or not there are blue cats...and flatheads...in Utah Lake. Some old dude twice my age and half my size was ready to put a whuppin' on me once when I told him that the big headed male channel cat he caught was not a flathead.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You do not have to rely on my sayso. Look through all of the past info you can find on Utah fish species. Never in a hundred years of record keeping will you find mention of any blues or flatheads ever being planted...or found in any survey netting...or turned in by any anglers or commercial netters. There have been lots of ugly male channel cats submitted as proof to DWR, but never identified as any thing other than channel cats.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, let me tell you about the story I heard about the guy who knows someone who is related to a guy who overheard someone else talking about what they definitely heard from someone else. Oh, forget it.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In the attached pics, the "Beer Cats" clearly shows the difference between females and males. As usual, the guy is the one with the beer. It also has different colors and a noticeably larger head and skinnier body...by comparison.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Don't fret it. I have been involved in plenty of challenges over the years on whether or not there are blue cats...and flatheads...in Utah Lake. Some old dude twice my age and half my size was ready to put a whuppin' on me once when I told him that the big headed male channel cat he caught was not a flathead.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You do not have to rely on my sayso. Look through all of the past info you can find on Utah fish species. Never in a hundred years of record keeping will you find mention of any blues or flatheads ever being planted...or found in any survey netting...or turned in by any anglers or commercial netters. There have been lots of ugly male channel cats submitted as proof to DWR, but never identified as any thing other than channel cats.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, let me tell you about the story I heard about the guy who knows someone who is related to a guy who overheard someone else talking about what they definitely heard from someone else. Oh, forget it.[/#0000ff]
[signature]