KDWPT Catfish Marking Video

[Craig Johnson]

A research project by KDWPT Fisheries Biologists is examining performance of channel catfish vs. hybrid catfish (channel catfish X blue catfish) in stocked small lakes. In order to track the two kinds of catfish all stocked fish are marked using two methods. This video shows the marking process for the channel catfish used in the study.

[Captain Dan]

Will the hybrid grow to larger size like the blues. Can the hybrids breed or will they be like the wipers that are not supposed to be able to breed.
What lakes will be used for the research? What are the characteristics of the hybrid catfish?
Thanks for your hard work to make fishing better.

[skinner80]

First that I have heard of this am sure more info is to come.

[Alboy79]

Interesting.

[Craig Johnson]

Will the hybrid grow to larger size like the blues. Can the hybrids breed or will they be like the wipers that are not supposed to be able to breed.
What lakes will be used for the research? What are the characteristics of the hybrid catfish?
Thanks for your hard work to make fishing better.

Dan,

I sent your questions to Ben Neely. Ben is the KDWPT Fisheries Biologist that is heading up this study. His reply is below.

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Will the hybrid grow to larger size like the blues? Can the hybrids breed or will they be like the wipers that are not supposed to be able to breed?

We don't know how big these fish will get. They are typically used for two purposes, neither that are concerned with maximize size. The primary use is as a commercial food fish. They are typically harvested from hatchery ponds at around 15" for this purpose. Their secondary use is as a sportfish in pay-to-fish ponds in the southeast United States. In that situation, they tend to be harvested by anglers at 15-20". To my knowledge, these fish haven't been experimented with in public fishing reservoirs.

These hybrids should not reproduce. In lab trials, researchers were unable to get fish to reproduce on their own despite many, many attempts.

What lakes will be used for the research?

There are three research lakes: Montgomery State Fishing Lake and Berentz-Dick Wildlife Area pond in Montgomery County and Wilson State Fishing Lake in Wilson County.

What are the characteristics of the hybrid catfish?

There are a few minor morphological differences that we have observed between hybrids and channels. However, we are struggling to find anything that is a cut-and-dry difference. Hybrid catfish share characteristics with both parent species. Like blue catfish, hybrids have a pronounced hump immediately in front of the dorsal fin, have thin white inner barbels, the margin of their anal fin is much more straight that that of a channel catfish, and they have a smaller mouth than a similar sized channel catfish. Like channels, they tend to have spots at smaller sizes. We are noticing that larger fish are easier to identify, but haven't seen any hybrids much bigger than 16" to date.

[Captain Dan]

Thanks Craig and Ben for your reply. It will be interesting to see how large they can grow and I hope they will eat zebras like the blues do.