Blue Catfish
Ictalurus furcatus
The largest catfish in North America, the blue catfish is a slate-blue, deeply forked-tailed giant that can exceed 100 pounds. It roams the deep channels and tailwaters of Alabama's big rivers and Tennessee River reservoirs, where it is prized by trophy anglers drift-fishing cut bait over open water.
Deep river channels, tailwaters, and open reservoir basins.
Blue Catfish Habitat & Size
Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) is associated with river water, lake water, and reservoir water in the species record. Habitat information describes the species, not permission to fish for it. The recorded average size is approximately 25 inches; individual sizes vary.
Recorded Waters for Blue Catfish
FishFinder links Blue Catfish to water records in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. These associations may reflect documented presence, seasonal runs, or historical stocking, not angler catch reports or current abundance. Read the linked water guides and source notes for evidence dates and reaches.
Blue Catfish Fishing Regulations & Limits
A recorded association does not establish that targeting or retaining Blue Catfish is permitted. Confirm current species protections, seasonal and emergency closures, reach-specific rules, gear restrictions, bag and size limits with the responsible fisheries authority before fishing. A fishing license does not override these restrictions. FishFinder's regulation records may be incomplete; missing rules do not mean unrestricted fishing.
Related Water Guides for Blue Catfish
Explore these FishFinder water guides for places where Blue Catfish is recorded:
- Lake Guntersville — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wheeler Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wilson Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Pickwick Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Weiss Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lay Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Logan Martin Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Neely Henry Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Martin — recorded Blue Catfish association
- R.L. Harris Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Yates Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Thurlow Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Walter F. George Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- West Point Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lewis Smith Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Alabama River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Mobile-Tensaw Delta — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Dardanelle — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Chicot — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Arkansas River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lower Mississippi River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Clear Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Nanticoke River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Delaware River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Chesapeake & Delaware Canal — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Savannah River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Altamaha River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ohio River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wabash River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Powerton Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Clinton Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Carlyle Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ohio River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wabash River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Monroe Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Patoka Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Mississippi River (Iowa Waters) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Missouri River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Milford Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wilson Reservoir (Kansas) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Cheney Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Clinton Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Perry Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- El Dorado Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Kanopolis Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Glen Elder Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Tuttle Creek Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Melvern Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Pomona Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- John Redmond Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lovewell Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Kansas River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Arkansas River (Kansas) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Kentucky Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Barkley — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Barren River Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Taylorsville Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Dewey Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Fishtrap Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Yatesville Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Kentucky River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Green River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Toledo Bend Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Caddo Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Sabine River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Poverty Point Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- False River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Eagle Lake (Louisiana) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- John K. Kelly-Grand Bayou Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Bussey Brake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- D'Arbonne Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Atchafalaya Basin — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lac des Allemands — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Verret — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Bistineau — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Cross Lake (Louisiana) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Claiborne — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Black Lake (Louisiana) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Red River (Louisiana) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ouachita River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Henderson Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ross Barnett Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Grenada Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Sardis Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Enid Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Arkabutla Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Pickwick Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Eagle Lake (Mississippi) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Washington — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Moon Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Pascagoula River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake of the Ozarks — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Harry S. Truman Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Table Rock Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Bull Shoals Lake (Missouri) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Norfork Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Stockton Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Mark Twain Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Smithville Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Wappapello Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Thomas Hill Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Mississippi River (Pools 20-26) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Elwood Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lewis and Clark Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Missouri River (Nebraska Waters) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Box Butte Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Minatare — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Zorinsky Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Elephant Butte Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Norman — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Wylie — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Badin Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Tillery — recorded Blue Catfish association
- High Rock Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- John H. Kerr Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Gaston — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Roanoke Rapids Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Cape Fear River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Dan River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ohio River (Ohio) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Texoma — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Grand Lake O' the Cherokees — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Eufaula — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Fort Gibson Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Thunderbird — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Keystone Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Arkansas River (Oklahoma) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lower Red River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Marion — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Moultrie — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Santee River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Congaree River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Cooper River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Monticello — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Wateree — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Thurmond — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Great Pee Dee River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Chickamauga Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Nickajack Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Watts Bar Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Fort Loudoun Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Fork — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Sam Rayburn Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- O.H. Ivie Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Alan Henry — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Conroe — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Livingston — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Trinity River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Choke Canyon Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Ray Hubbard — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Tawakoni — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Richland Chambers Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Bob Sandlin — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake O' the Pines — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Fayette County Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Grapevine Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Falcon International Reservoir — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Amistad — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Whitney — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Possum Kingdom Lake — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Belton — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Buggs Island Lake (Kerr Reservoir) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Lake Anna — recorded Blue Catfish association
- James River (Virginia) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Staunton River — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Ohio River (West Virginia) — recorded Blue Catfish association
- Kanawha River — recorded Blue Catfish association
Equipment planning for Blue Catfish
We have not selected a species-specific affiliate setup for this guide. First establish whether targeting is permitted at your destination; no tackle recommendation should be inferred from a species record.
Equipment guidance is not permission to fish. Confirm the exact water, date, species, method and current official rules first. A closed season prohibits targeting, even with release. Recorded fish presence does not establish an open fishery.
- Check permitted methods, bait and hook restrictions before choosing tackle. Match rod, line and lure ratings to the lawful method and conditions, rather than buying by species name alone.
- Plan weather protection, drinking water and a way to call for help. For boat trips, confirm required flotation and safety equipment with the responsible boating authority.
- Read the habitat and water-specific source notes in this guide, then confirm an appropriate lawful method with the local fisheries authority before choosing equipment. Do not assume a general freshwater combo suits every species or water.
This is an editorial planning checklist, not hands-on product testing. Use equipment you already own when suitable. The gear directory contains affiliate links; any product suggestions below have their own disclosure. Retailer region, availability and Canadian shipping are not guaranteed.
Browse the gear directory · Find official fishing-rule sources · Affiliate disclosure
Blue Catfish Regulations
Review available regulation records and confirm whether fishing for Blue Catfish is permitted with the responsible fisheries authority:
Frequently Asked Questions
What water types are associated with Blue Catfish?
The species record associates Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) with river water, lake water, and reservoir water. Habitat information is not evidence of current abundance or permission to target the species.
How big does Blue Catfish get?
The recorded average size for Blue Catfish is approximately 25 inches. Individual sizes vary; this average is not a maximum size or a legal retention limit.
Where does FishFinder record water associations for Blue Catfish?
FishFinder links Blue Catfish to water records in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. These associations may reflect documented presence, seasonal runs, or historical stocking, not angler catch reports. Check the linked water guides and source notes for evidence dates and reaches; a listing does not guarantee current presence or legal fishing opportunity.
Does a listing or fishing license permit fishing for Blue Catfish?
No. A listing records an association, not permission to target or retain Blue Catfish. License requirements and exemptions vary. Confirm current species protections, seasonal and emergency closures, reach-specific rules, gear restrictions, bag and size limits with the responsible fisheries authority. A license does not override restrictions, and missing FishFinder regulation records do not mean unrestricted fishing.