BLUE CATS AT HOOVER

(From HFR email 7/20/11) You want to talk Cats? Well, with the following news we might recommend you Cat anglers out there start thinking about upsizing your equipment in coming years. Big Bubba is coming to Hoover! We had the opportunity to hear from Rich Carter and Rich Zweifel of Div. of Wildlife about the new member of the aquatic world they plan to stock at Hoover this Fall. Blue Catfish! Not the ones that folks have been claiming to have caught (mature Channel Cats), but the real deal. It seems that things didn't work out at Dillon Lake where they introduced them last year, because of the flow through. Some were tracked down to the Ohio River. So they looked for a large enough body of water with sufficient Shad base for an adequate food source for these brutes and have chosen Hoover. Some time in late Fall they plan to stock 15,000 yearlings (10-13") with many being marked and tagged. In addition 75,000 fingerlings (6-8") will be added to the lake. It is unknown how well these fish will reproduce so the current plan is to continually stock them each year. (Note: only 8,300 fingerling were released on Oct. 21 due to poor hatch and reserving 30,000 for next year release.)
See video http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?tabid=23658

The fish have a much faster growth rate than Channel Cats, almost twice as fast. Within 10 years they expect them to be at least 20-lb. fish. The current World Record was caught recently in VA and weighed 143 lbs. 40-50 lb. fish are the norm in areas where they have been successful. These fish, after the first year, occupy a different niche than Channels, as they're more of an open water fish. Ray Petering tells us the preferred way to catch them will be to drift large bait fish. He also said he "hoped that Hoover would become a "Trophy" fishery for all 3 species of Cats on the order of Cooper-Santee in SC". At present eggs are being gotten from KY Wildlife folks, but Ray says they're growing out some brood stock so that ODNR eventually will be self sustaining in Blue Cat production. It takes 4-6 years for these fish to be sexually mature. Since this is a new species to inland Ohio waters, (there are a few in Ohio River) Carter and Zweifel are planning a significant tracking program. We'll share more of this as details are provided. (Remember Cassie May? We saw a photo of her as she surgically implanted a transmitter in one of the fish.)

While we probably won't be around for the 40-50 lb. fish to be realized, we're happy to be are here at the beginning. Perhaps one of the younger readers of this email will be the first to land a 40 lb. trophy in years to come. Want more good news? We've gotten these guys to promise a presentation on Blue Cats at the upcoming HFS XIV in February. We've also asked, if possible, to have live specimens in an aquarium along side Channel Cats to show how you can tell the difference. It's not that hard if you look at the anal fin. On Blue's it a straight line, where on Channel's their anal fin is curved. There are a couple of other subtle differences, but the anal fin will break the code. Can't tell you how exciting this news is to us. Makes us wish this could have been done years ago so that we might be around long enough to experience what one of these "eating machines", as Ray calls them, from Hoover would feel like.