5/15 report

[Fishing Tiger]

We went West to work the reefs. That didn't work out so well. After a couple hours and only 2 eyes we pulled the spread and headed North East to the line.

We finally found a nice pod and started to pick some eyes and had 2 large sheeps that sunk the inline boards. We had 10 eyes in the boat when all hell broke loose. We had an outside board move away from the boat instead of behind and circle back in wrapping up 4 other boards. It was total chaos. 5 boards pulled together and still moving.

Well after much cutting and cursing we got the culprit in. It was a yellow cat that was about 20 pounds. Fortunately we didn't loose a board or any bandits. But there was allot of balled up line and all the rods on that side had to be re-rigged. We decided to call it and head in.

Best lead was Bandits 75 back, at 1.8 mph. Best color was nascar.

[itsbob]

That was one big ass cat you caught there. Too bad it ended your day, Mike. We have caught some tackle busting cats during our decades of fishing on Erie. Think the biggest i have seen landed in our boat would be about 15lbs.Thats an estimate, cuss we don't take any extra time getting them off the boat.

[Fishing Tiger]

I have caught some big blues but never a yellow cat that size. This think was bright yellow/orange. I didn't know they grew that big.

[Capt Juls]

Dang...that sounds like a mess! Silly cats. Great job...

[West Basin]

No such thing as a "yellow catfish" species in Lake Erie. The only catfish species generally encountered out in the open Lake is the channel catfish. There are flathead catfish in the Maumee River and other local rivers (Sandusky, Huron). Therefore there are probably a few strays in the Lake. No Blue Cats or "yellow cats". If the catfish you landed really was more of a yellow orange color, then it could have been a big flathead. But, if you know you fish species even fairly well, it's easy to tell a flathead because... well they have a very flat head! There are also color variations in almost all fish species, so it could also have been a channel catfish.

Yellow and Brown Bullheads are found in the marshes, bays, and slower parts of the rivers. But they only get about 12-14 inches in length.

Here's a nice Lake Erie fish ID for anyone interested, text and photos.

https://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/lec/rese...ecies_list.pdf

[Fishing Tiger]

Absolutely and I agree and that was my experience also. I have grown up fishing here and the rivers and know my cats, I thought.

No it was not a flat head (easy to tell), nor a channel (to stalky and the tail was not right). Coloration was that of a Bullhead but maybe a little brighter yellow and like you said I have never seen them much more that a pound. Build was more like a Blue.

I thought maybe a semi albino Blue. I have caught Blues in the big lake.

I was hoping someone on here might know what it was. I no what it wasn't. Wish I had taken a picture but I was so frustrated/pissed I got rid of it as soon as possible. I may have released a world record Bullhead, lol. Or a new species.

BTW we had two hands in its mouth with ease.

[West Basin]

To my knowledge, there aren't any Blue Catfish in Lake Erie either. Seems I have been through this before with a catfish caught in Lake Erie. I seem to remember it's possible some blues were stocked by someone way back (maybe a tributary). But Blues are not native to the Lake. Doesn't mean a few somehow didn't find their way into it.

Yes, it would be great to get verification on fish like this. It's possible it was some kind of exotic that someone released. Or even possibly a freak hybrid of some kind. But as far as I know, you shouldn't be catching anything that big that's not a channel cat. ODW fisheries would love to have seen some photos!

FYI - If I remember correctly, channel cat growth rates are slower in Lake Erie that the river tributaries. So a monster channel caught in Lake Erie is an old fish as channel cats go.

[Lynn M]

So today we were fishing on Erie and landed this 13 pound catfish. My friend that fishes Sandusky Bay in the summer told me that this is the same kind he catches there. It is what he calls a channel catfish. It put up quite a fight, but we were lucky that it didn't tangle everything up! Is this possibly the same kind that you caught, Mike? Sorry the pictures aren't great but hopefully you can see it well enough to identify if it is the same kind. Just thought I would post this here since it is a catfish catch.

[Fishing Tiger]

Yes that looks like a channel cat. There are allot of them in the big lake as well as the bay. That looks like a nice one.
Mine did not look like that.
Thanks for sharing.