Blue Cats Above The Falls?

Type: Nontidal
Region: Western
Location: Potomac River

Went wading for smallmouth and had good luck with chartreuse crankbaits. Around 7PM we started catfishing and ended up with several nice cats both Blue and Channels. I never knew bluecats made it past Great Falls. I looked on the internet and didn�t see any mention of them anywhere but in tidal waters. I also noticed the MD handbook only has them listed under Chesapeake Bay and not under freshwater. Maybe with the high water we had this spring they made it up past Great Falls?

DNR�s Reply: Your entry has ignited some discussions here at The Fisheries Service regarding the presence of blue catfish above Great Falls on the Potomac. Unfortunately we cannot make a definitive ID based on your photos, we believe one photo is definitely a channel catfish, this species is already known to exist on that stretch of river. Regarding the other photo, without seeing the entire anal fin we can�t say for certain you caught a blue catfish. One biologist believes it would be impossible for blue cats to get passed Great Falls on their own, therefore if you indeed caught a blue cat then it was placed there. Another biologist very familiar with the Potomac, above Great Falls, documented a blue cat (15 years ago) caught by an angler, no blue cats have ever been caught in survey work targeting catfish on that stretch of river. This would definitely be a significant find if additional blue cats are found living above Great Falls.