Historic Reintroduction of Blue Catfish

[@jeremybolin5832]

That's awesome to see Joe. Glad you was able to be apart of it. 👏

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks buddy. It was an awesome experience

[@jakdaripper2]

The rebirth of a species to native waters, simply awesome! Very glad you, Ken and that looked like Graham - got to be a part of the process!

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for checking out the video Jeff. Can't wait for these badboys to grow up!!

[@adventureswithrobinc3262]

Great interview with Biologist Mike. I love seeing places restocked with native fish. I love the fact they decided on yearlings vs fingerlings. I truly enjoyed this video. Thank you for documenting this, and sharing it.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

No problem! Thanks for watching

[@gregj831]

With those baby blues I see a whole lot of very delicious Catfish Po-Boys. Hell yeah! Great news.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

You don't want to eat anything out of the Ohio River. 🤣

[@limits12gaming44]

Wow! That is great!

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@slimeboogercatfishcrew4951]

I love it! I'm glad you guys are getting blues up there and I hope they do well and have a positive affect on the ecosystem. This is great news Joe

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Yes sir! Thanks brother

[@kimvaughan4231]

That was GREAT!!!!

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for watching!

[@tonymason9268]

Great things happening right there.Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@scottkissinger5763]

Good deal very exciting it'll be interesting to see how fast they grow good things indeed

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

I'm pumped! I'm sure it'll take a while but the ball is rollin

[@scottkissinger5763]

Heard that gotta start somewhere gonna be out in that neck of the woods next September again can't wait good luck down in va

[@sleezymac5316]

Can’t wait til these grow into monsters 🎣

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Me too!! It's gonna change the game around here big time

[@joeyfri13]

Super Excited! When this happened it was like a dream come true. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Me too!! Thanks for all your help getting the ball rolling!

[@MuskratAdventures]

This is one of the best videos I've seen this year. And it's super exciting seeing a state take interest and reintroduce blue cats into the Ohio River. Even though this is not an area I fish seeing the initiation gives me hope. You have truly shown full circle, bringing big fish out of the water and putting fish back in the water for our future

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

That's means a lot brother, thank you! I couldn't be more excited for the future here in Western PA

[@MuskratAdventures]

@@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223 We definitely need to get you on the show!

[@bretkrol8838]

Great job to all involved how cool to have it documented on your channel, good to see you back , how ironic the next video that pops up on your channel you catch a blue right of the bat

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks Brett! It was a pretty cool experience

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Life got a little hectic the last couple months but I should be back to 1 video per week. A have a ton of great content stashed

[@randypittillo7272]

What a cool thing to have been a part of, I would have liked to been in on it.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

It was awesome! Thanks for watching

[@thomasjarosz7406]

Joe, Talk your buddy in to stocking Skipjack herring for food. Wiil have monsters to catch. God Bless

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

I wish that was possible! 😆...Skips are starting to show up below our dams, more and more each year.

[@jeffjackson5331]

Awesome!

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for watching Jeff!

[@jeffjackson5331]

@@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223 you are very welcome Joe. I did find one of the baby blues on the shore down by the Monaca boat launch a few weeks ago but it didn't make it unfortunately.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

I'm sure a bunch haven't unfortunately

[@jeffjackson5331]

@@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223 yep. Nature sucks at times.

[@ncmooutdoors]

Missed the weekly videos. But the is AWESOME that you get to be a part of this. I seen the state record blue in there 😁

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for watching! My life has been pretty hectic the last few weeks and haven't had much time to edit. I'm back to uploading a video every Thursday

[@ncmooutdoors]

@Hammer-Down Catfishing With Joe Granata I know exactly what you're talking about life. I have about a week left then I'm gonna make a little time for myself

[@nashvillekatsfishing]

As someone who grew up on those waters… this is amazing! Never thought it would happen honestly

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

I never thought it would happen either brother. The future is looking bright for our area

[@thatnaturalstatefishingguy6928]

Great stuff 🤘

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@zackmurray6107]

This must have been a blast to be involved in such a program that is so near and dear to the catfish community.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

It was an amazing experience!! Thanks for watching

[@danarae9583]

Can't wait to get a 100 pound catfish

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

You and me both!!

[@blacktopcharters7313]

Awesome video and thanks so much for what Mike and yourself have done to contribute to the program! Also thanks for inviting me to be a part of it!

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Thanks Big Ken!!

[@fishingmaddness2259]

That's awesome they been restocking Maumee river and lake erie tributaries with lake sturgeon glad to see my money going for amazing causes 💪😁🎣🎣🎣🎣

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Good stuff!

[@aaronmcdonald8423]

Can't believe I haven't seen this video until today. I know they stocked the fingerlings what 2 Octobers ago and I think they did the yearlings down by Kilbuck launch and Dashields area. Hope you're feeling good Joe and get to get out on the water this year! Does Mike know any information about the growth rates on these Blue Cats? I'm sure it varies in different areas. In example like the growth rates here in the Ohio River compared to the growth rates in the James River. Capt. Christian Moore says they get so big down there due to the "endless buffet of food" 😅.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Whats up buddy. 2024 is going to be year 3 stocking on the Ohio. We're all hoping the survival/growth rates will be comparable to West Virginia's blue cat stocking data. I believe it took around 10-12 years till they saw their 1st 50lber. And unfortunately, our river will never touch James River stays. That's a special place down there!

[@kurtgreen1040]

Will those fish stay together until they get bigger or will they separate after you release them

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

I'd think they'd stay together at 1st but not 100% sure on that. Thanks for watching

[@fishingmaddness2259]

Bring like 2 scoops to the Maumee 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

🤣

[@robbiesmith9786]

What % git eat when u stock them that small love seeing fish goin in the ohio do u plan on stocking any flat head

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

We covered that in the video. Approximately 5% survive when stocked as fingerlings and 20-25% survive when yearlings are stocked. The next 14 years, they will be stocking yearlings. They have no plans on stocking flatheads in western PA as their studies show we currently have a good population. Thanks for watching

[@hms7469]

This is really cool and will be alot of fun to catch in the future. But blue catfish can really hurt the population of other native fish. The population in the chesapeake bay has really got out of hand and we can't even maintain our population commercially.

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

We're excited! Fortunately, blue catfish are native to the Ohio River as they are re-introducing them here. They've been doing the same stocking in West Virginia's pools of the river and everything is doing great. It's a big difference in stocking blues to native water vs stocking an invasive species. Thanks for checking out the video!!

[@GKHauntedYardAttraction]

That’s the worst spot to dump baby fingerling catfish in the middle of the water? Where it’s open? All your doing is feeding the bigger fish, these baby catfish should be in more shallow water where they can actually survive and get away from predators instead of being in the open waters they are just fish food now

[@hammer-downcatfishingwithj7223]

Did you watch the video? Everywhere we released those fish was thought out as we planned ahead.