(Ictalurus punctatus)
The Channel Catfish is one of the species sought by the people fishing from the King’s Landing pier. While generally captured out in the middle of the river channel, occasionally our seventh grade students manage to catch one in the seine net.
The channel cat is identified from other catfish species by its deeply forked tail. The sides of the body are usually a solid gray with dark spots. Like most catfish the channel catfish feeds on the river bottom, using its delicate whiskers to help locate food items.
In the southern states, channel catfish are known to grow to a weight of nearly 60 pounds! Most of the catfish caught in the Patuxent weigh about a pound or two. The first ever Channel Catfish caught during the CHESPAX seining program was on October 1, 2001.
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