Eradicating the Blue Catfish

In this catfishing podcast I sit down with Captain Christian Moore, a charter captain on the James River in eastern Virginia, to discuss the future of the blue catfish and what biologists hope they can do to eradicate the fish in Virginia and Maryland waters. As a catfish guide on the James River Capt. Christian Moore understands the plight of the fishermen on both sides of the discussion about what to do with the blue catfish on the James River.
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[@steveransome5234]

Great show. Please stay in touch with him and do a follow up on the data provided with the tagging data . That would be awesome to hear

[@artotfc890]

One Ton Fishing Club just fished with him a couple weeks ago! He is an awesome guide and he put us on 3 new PB's!

[@user-wd9jg5fi3m]

Love catching blues they get huge great fish hate to hear something like this

[@whiskerdreams7146]

How the the Bluecat invaded Maryland..It happened in the mid 80s,a dry year caused the salt line in the bay to end up south of the James River,that give a window for the Bluecat to exit the James and migrate north up the Rappahannock river,that is how the Bluecat invaded Maryland..

[@kenneth9874]

There's plenty of blues in Louisiana and they have no problem with them, that's where most of the blue crabs you eat come from.

[@48shamrock]

On our last bowfishing trip on the Potomac in September 2023 we could have damn near walked across from Indian Head across to Virginia. There were thousands of blues in that stretch at any given time. Never seen anything like it.

[@DieterMelhorn]

Based on the shocking videos I’ve seen, I believe that!!

[@mikecannon6378]

Hey bud, been a long time subscriber. By far the nest guest and interview you have done. You have matured into a a media person and have note sacrificed a a great fishing for it. Great job buddy!

[@DieterMelhorn]

WOW!! Thank you for the kind words!!! Much appreciated!

[@AEStudt]

Very informative Dieter and Christen enjoyed this

[@timsmithoutdoors]

MD resident here. I fish the Susquehanna River on a weekly basis. There are monster blues and flatheads in that particular tributary of the Chesapeake. Would love to hear more from this guy. I would love to hear what his opinion is on the blue catfish eating bunker, herring, and gizzard shad and the impact that it is having on the striper population in the bay.

[@wtwoods6687]

Great video. Thank you

[@TheAnglerJay]

I fish the potomac in MD, VA, and DC and the opinions on blues are all over the place there. You hate them or love them. I personally love them. In order to claim a state record the fish has to be killed though. That needs to change.

[@edwardallender7749]

Thank you ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊

[@MikeStokesFishing76]

Another great podcast

[@jamesoosterbaan556]

Very informative. Good podcast

[@DieterMelhorn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HomesickforAlaska]

Very good video.

[@brianbrown9102]

Great podcast!

[@DieterMelhorn]

Thanks for listening

[@shoalscatfishjonathan]

That was very informative, I can see a lot of controversy around this. 👍

[@mikepirrone97]

Just started following your channel. Your videos are great! I live in Maryland on the Eastern Shore. Kent Island area which is where the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is. I'm just starting to get into these Blue Cats. Fished for mainly rockfish previously. These Blue Cats are eating out the Bay. Crabs , rockfish, ect. So going to get out there are starting targeting to do my part as they are excellent to eat. Besides the bay, the other 2 main rivers nearby are the Wye River & Chester River. We do consider them invasive as they are deminnshing our native species. Guys are finding 4-6 whole blue crabs inside these blue crabs. Also to answer a question, our Local crabbers , especially trotlines are not catching what they used to. Several stopped crabbing, or don't go as often as it's more work than the reward. Also, commercial guys aren't getting paid much money for blue cats so you don't have as many guys out there as you do crabbers.

[@barrywallace4415]

just like on fontana lake in NC. bluebacks and spotted bass eating everything. need some stripers to help thin out both!

[@brandonanderson1646]

My question to all those involved in this conversation, is what were the blue crab population pre-colonization? If one group of people value a particular species ,they will naturally target that species as a food source and create a vacuum for others to take their place. I personally believe carp are a European target species because of the targeting of the predatory fish that predates them being a target species.

[@calebpartenheimer7636]

The last thing that needs to happen is getting the government involved. Someone like me is just wanting the fun and experience of catching a good size fish. The other factors are irrelevant to me as for throwing it back or not to the average person.

[@Whitetail101]

I’m in NC and we have a great fishery. We’ve been out four times this year and have caught five over 50 pounds, six over 40 and a bunch of 20’s & 30’s Mostly the Pee Dee

[@teamwampuskatoutdoors4275]

Question. Do you think the boom in the population of the “eater” size fish in the water has anything to do with the huge CPR movement in the mid to late 2000’s and nobody really keeping fish hoping to grow the monsters? I’ve saw this happen with largemouth in local farmponds.

[@DieterMelhorn]

No, because they have been eletrofished there and even that has not had an impact.

[@madtownangler]

We don't have blues or flatheads in the reservoir next to where I live. I have to fish the river by my parents to get flatheads

[@bobbygreen2291]

Yep in 2005 when I had got to booking a lot of trips ,,,the last thing I would have conversation about was regulations,,if they asked me the limit on stripe bass ,,I simply would tell them ,,you won’t catch that many ,,never told them the numbers ,,I knew that was bad for my business.

[@Firewoodmaninvirgina]

Do they need more recreational fisherman for that board? I catch a ton of them in the Fredericksburg area, bass fishing is king up here

[@DieterMelhorn]

Reach out to Captain Moore.....his contact info is in the description section

[@d-squaredoutdoors5670]

I think the Virginia government needs to fix the problem by stocking wels catfish in there to eat the small blues.

[@DieterMelhorn]

🤣🤣😆😜🤣

[@DillonTrinhProductions]

To be honest, that’s going to caused even more a huge problem

[@rameneater1437]

I fish the James in Richmond. I prefer the native channel cat

[@Tcb997]

I fish the upper potomac from Brunswick MD to Whites ferry MD. I do love catching catfish and eating them. But l have noticed a lot of the fish in my area having red pimple like blemish on them and has kind of creeped me out from eating those fish. I would like to know what these wounds are and should or can l eat them without getting sick myself. When l was a kid we would keep a lot of the fish.

[@gregscherf9385]

Sounds like abrasion rash from spawning. They kinda like bite on each other and scuff each other

[@FFGOMER17]

I’m live near the upper Bay and we catch big blues in the Susquehanna when targeting them, as well as in the main channel of the Bay when targeting Rockfish. So they definitely don’t mind the high salinity of the Bay. While I do enjoy catching them, I would rather protect our Blue Crabs. And no question about it, the cats are eating the crabs. I also wonder if they don’t prey on juvenile Rockfish, which are seeing a huge decline in recent years. The Governor of MD recently tried to get a Federal declaration of emergency to help combat the Blue Cat problem; it was denied because the government said the problem is not bad enough yet. But if we don’t do something soon it may cause irreversible damage to the other fisheries.

[@garlandalmarode6396]

When they were first introduced into Virginia, game an inland didn't think they would be able to spread because of the salt. They found out that wasn't true.

[@amuseSurfRigs]

New Jersey Fish & Game is telling people to kill the Flathead, Blue Catfish & Snakeheads ... I refuse to kill a fish ... I am trying to get then added to the Record Fish List ... Right across the river is Pennsylvania and they have records for catfish ... I'm talking about the Delaware River ...

[@seymourwrasse3321]

if the government get involved things will really get screwed up

[@garybiggs9010]

Catch Clean & Cook

[@lutherprince9304]

Amen to that brother

[@bobbygreen2291]

I think, that if all of us end goal is for more people to buy licenses and book fishing trips and commercial fish for cats just don’t add a bunch of crazy regulations like there is on duck hunters or trout fishermen,,,they have so many different regulations that most people might buy one year’s licenses,,and then never buy another license or book another trip ,,,if you complicate anything,,it takes the fun out of it.

[@kaboom4679]

No creel limit is great approach , for under 34" fish . They cannot eradicate Blue Cats unless they eradicate every other living thing in the watersheds . All they can do is manage them , and done properly , it should still produce trophy Blue Cats , and , give some extra forage for the stripers and small mouth bass , along with other game fish .

[@garlandalmarode6396]

Largemouth bass. There aren't many small mouth in the tidal James. Don't know about the other rivers connected to the Chesapeake. They are mostly above the fall line.

[@HawgWyldFishing]

Ga DNR has been attempting to do the same thing to flatheads in south Ga for well over a decade now. They say they harm their shellcracker populations. I think the gar down there are a bigger issue than the flatheads. They certainly outnumbered the flatheads about 1000 to 1 the last time I fished down there. Can’t convince DNR of that. I’ve only fished in a couple places in my life where you could easily catch gar on rod and reel, limb lines, however you wanted to fish. That was the worst place I’ve ever seen in my life. You can see gar in a lot of rivers and lakes &, they’ll almost never bite. That’s not the case in south Ga. They will attack bait immediately, everywhere you fish.

[@TheIconicFisherman]

I mean on one hand I understand the concern but on the other hand if it's not causing a significant effect on the blue crab population to the point where blue crab fishermen can't get their quota then what's the point in eradicating these fish.

[@jantu6835]

Send em down here to Texas

[@raygissendanner1476]

I was telling a guy yesterday about you and you taking people out to fish

[@DieterMelhorn]

Thanks for watching and sharing my info!!

[@2StansFishing]

The casual angler has no clue about what’s going on, heck even a lot of ppl involved with it, have no clue what the situation is, n who n what is affected. A big problem is no one knows how to get involved n actually pass out info on what is happening. We’ve been told for a long time not to eat catfish from the James, but really not shown data on it. So between the avg angler not eating fish n do to no where to process catfish not enough of the eater size fish r being harvested. Big problem with the processors is that CatFish processing is now under the control of the USDA n other seafood does not have to deal with that amount of regulation, they r just controlled by FDA, so with the 25% usable fillet n the extra costs of the USDA regs to process catfish most processors have stopped processing catfish. As Christian stated a lot of this is about money n in the Chesapeake Bay Area the big money is blue crab n rock fish (stripers). It’s easy to blame the non native blue cats, but no one looks at other species like huge numbers of cowrays in the bay, there’s also like u said less grass growths, changing water temps, loss of crab breeding grounds etc. As Christian is, I am hopeful that there is a way to bring all parties together so that not only will other species populations do better , the trophy breeder blue cats will also benefit. We at @2StansFishing love n respect this big beautiful catfish. The James River is a very special fishery for them, I would say that we have probably caught well over a thousand 50+ lb blue cats that we have released back to continue growth, n to try to eradicate such a special fishery would be a true tragedy✌️✌️

[@garlandalmarode6396]

They don't say to not eat the cats but only a certain amount. I don't know how much it is and personally feel like it's overkill. I know people that catch them and have fish frys and have for decades. I respect them being cautious but kepone happened back in the mid 70's.

[@2StansFishing]

@@garlandalmarode6396 absolutely I hear what ur saying , n that’s my point. If u ask the avg angler out there fishing they have no idea because they don’t do a good job of passing on accurate info. Currently It’s currently no more then 2 meals a month for catfish , n eating no catfish over 32”. A lot of anglers don’t realize the amount of chemicals that can accumulate in the fish when they r in the river for 10, 15 yrs n longer. But the abundant 3 to 5 lbers carry very little toxins, n r relatively very safe to eat . But if they just put out advisories with no real info , most ppl either A. totally ignore it or B. Feel like everything in the river is unsafe to eat.

[@jonboatmorava9115]

The lake I fish regularly is being turned into a wake boat course. 😅😅😅

[@seymourwrasse3321]

One hectare is equal to 10,000 square meters and is equivalent to approximately 2.471 acres.

[@todddavis4203]

you guys are getting a taste of what us Carp Anglers have to deal with...........don't feel to good does it....

[@DieterMelhorn]

I’m not sure what you’re referring to. Blue catfish, like carp, are thriving in any waters they inhabit.

[@todddavis4203]

@@DieterMelhorn but so many people blame carp for stuff, that just isn't true. Common carp are naturalized now , they are here to stay. But say the word carp and people immediately say oh that's a trash fish, invasive, must be irradiated.

[@DieterMelhorn]

@@todddavis4203 carp do not have a bad name around here. Lots of people enjoy fishing for them here. As with many non-native species, they have reached a point of balance in our ecosystems.

[@kenneth9874]

Blues are tasty, carp not so much plus they destroy habitat.

[@randywilson6869]

Can u eat them smaller ones? Or is the water to bad

[@HawgWyldFishing]

Smaller fish of any species are the better ones to eat. They haven’t lived as long and haven’t had the time to absorb as many toxins as the bigger fish.

[@austinprater5979]

WHERES ALL THE RODS AT??????

[@DieterMelhorn]

New layout this year!!!

[@williestephens4327]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@egomaniac247]

I grew up on the James river......and I will say, yes there are monster blues in the river but the river is also absolutely over-run with small blue cats. You could go out with nightcrawlers and load up coolers every day. The biomass it out of balance.

[@DieterMelhorn]

Sounds like a great place to load coolers with eaters!!!

[@egomaniac247]

@@DieterMelhorn Not if you know the history of the James & kepone :)

[@egomaniac247]

@@DieterMelhorn Also I wanted to say thanks for posting this, it's a great subject!

[@garlandalmarode6396]

You can eat the blues. I know there is a limit on how much a day, or used to be. But I know people that fish with jugs load up with them and have fish frys

[@garlandalmarode6396]

And they ve been doing it their whole lives.

[@kennethblevins6172]

You can feed more people with a nice blue cat than you can a bucket of blue crabs

[@daniellee3831]

In otherwords let the bag limit for fish under 15 pounds go up by a huge margin for a while

[@seanruggenberg62]

So a hectare of water is 100m by 100m by 1 foot so thats 100000 square meters of water

[@user-wd9jg5fi3m]

Take them to different waters

[@larrymast5750]

I fish only for Blues on the James River and I keep them all

[@hippiecatfishing4145]

Imagine a law that requires the angler to "dispose" of the catfish in places where its invasive. 😊😢

[@desmondjohnson6360]

Fishing tournaments do nothing but stress the catfish!

[@michealsmith101]

Hmm, why get rid of a species of Catfish that are hella fun to land, not to mention almost all of the one's ive landed have been on the 10lb side /confused

[@chuckfinley3152]

Let me guess, a DMR released them into a place they didn’t belong and now the law of unintended consequences is kicking in lol

[@chuckfinley3152]

*DNR lol

[@kennethsmith8844]

Best eating catfish is the bluecat

[@fishinfool3795]

Around here it's the flathead. Meat is much firmer and less oily. I prefer flats, then channels, then blues.

[@kennethsmith8844]

The flat head catfish is considered the invasive cat

[@kennethsmith8844]

Here in SE Georgia

[@DieterMelhorn]

In some areas that is true, but not Mississippi River drainages...

[@damriverboys7794]

Md just is pointing the blame at the blue cats the take all the bait fish out of the bay and turn it into cat food and fertilizer and dam all the rivers with no fish lifts so the fish cant make the spring run for spawn

[@chriscunningham570]

I'm from and live in Maryland and I love fishing for blue catfish, to hell with the crab population gimmie the blues

[@bigplanet7818]

Society has pushed the catching of "big fish" (looking good) instead of catching eating size fish to feed the family and live. Today's society is about living to eat and not eating to live. The small fish taste a lot better and they contain much less mercury and other heavy metals in their meat. Sad that it has come to sport fishing and money making, instead of survival fishing to feed the family and communities.

[@DieterMelhorn]

Thank God we are not relying on striped bass as a food source.

[@brandonanderson1646]

American anglers view carp as trash fish, because we have multitudes of other fish to catch.

[@brianturnbell6088]

Grass on the northern Rappahannock from wilmount to port royal is horrible but by far the Rappahannock river has better quality fish then James river

[@kennethblevins6172]

I would rather catch a blue to eat than a flathead any day. A crab can live in water a blue cat cant

[@user-yv3tf1vn7o]

All the people that bad mouth the catfish probably eat catfish just won’t something to talk about I fish south Louisiana catfish can’t eat all the crabs

[@OhioRiverFisherman]

They need to eradicate the paylakes. They have killed the Mighty Ohio River

[@mikesaquariums4293]

My gosh just catch the fish and eat them.😂😂😂😂

[@terrymckenna8901]

That would be the dumbest thing I ever heard of getting rid of the blue catfish pretty soon all that's gonna be in the rivers or lakes is Asian carp they will take over everything what is wrong with people

[@kenneth9874]

What's wrong with y'all, blues are delicious....

[@mv7401]

They are decimating crustaceans and blue crabs in our Chesapeake waters. Not to mention competing with stripers for food

[@scottgarbs7761]

As much as we all love blue catfish, if they aren't known to not degrade the blue crab population, our beloved blue catfish have got to go. Like it or not, we can't harm our food supply so we can catch blue catfish. If the factually accurate term "invasive" makes people uncomfortable, try the term "migrant". That term seems to easily trick people.

[@seymourwrasse3321]

they will get over hating blue cats as soon as the asian carp show up with their buddy's, the snakeheads

[@garlandalmarode6396]

I ve seen snakehead in the James. Was told by some they weren't in the James. I knew what I saw, did some research and DWR says they are in the James.