Other Common Names:

Spotted Cat, Blue Channel Cat, Great Lakes Catfish, Lady Cat

State Record:

36 pounds 8 ounces

Identifying Features:

Channel catfish have eight barbels (whiskers), an olive-green to bluish body with dark spots, and a deeply forked tail.

Typical Adult:

Length: Up to 24 inches
Weight: Up to 20 pounds
Life span: Up to 11 years

Habitat:

Channel catfish inhabit deep streams, rivers, and lakes in eastern and central U.S., especially in deep stretches of sand, gravel, or rubble bottom. They also inhabit lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. The preferred water temperature is 75-80 °F.

Feeding Behavior:

Channel catfish feed on insect larvae, clams, snails, crayfish, crabs, and aquatic plants. They locate food by probing the bottom with their barbels.

Reproductive Behavior (Spawning):

When: Late Spring-Summer
Preferred Water Temperature: 70-75 ° F
How: The male builds the nest in dark secluded spots under logs, in the shade of boulders, holes in riverbanks, or barrels. The female scatters the eggs in the nest. The male guards the nest.

Did You Know:

Young channel catfish are called "fiddlers."

During the 1950s, commercial fisherman harvested nearly 270,000 pounds of channel catfish each year from the Mississippi River.

* Iowa does not have an official state fish