Cats on the Prowl

Here's a white catfish that I landed yesterday.
Note the large head and large mouth, features
that are different than horned pout. They will
hit the same baits as carp do.

The carp fishing has really perked up in this warm weather of the last few days. While the carp have been active, a whole lot of other things have also come to life.  Some of those fish to come out of the winter doldrums have been catfish and horned pout.  I've caught good numbers of them in the last week.

Most people don't realize we have both catfish and horned pout in many lakes and ponds around the state.  You can tell the difference because catfish have a forked tail and horned pout, or brown bullhead, have a square tail.  The catfish also have a much bigger head and a big mouth. They also tend to be lighter in color than brown bullheads.

The catfish we have in this state are white catfish.  They were stocked in many places in this state back in the 1960's, and they have stuck around and established a population.  These are different than the channel cats that you find in the CT River. Channel cats tend to have smaller mouths than white cats but are much larger in size.  Most of the white cats found in RI will run 2 to 4 lbs.  They are bigger on average than horned pout.

Note that catfish will often hit the same baits as carp. They often bang on your bait rather than running. Some, though, might take it and run just like a carp.  I have been fooled numerous times into thinking I have a carp hit and it turns out to be a catfish.