Catfish

Category: Freshwater

Trip Type: Freshwater

Catfish are a Louisiana staple — widely available, beginner-friendly, and among the best-eating freshwater fish in the state.

Appearance

Louisiana is home to several catfish species, with blue catfish, channel catfish, and flathead catfish being the most commonly targeted. Blue catfish are slate-blue to gray with a white belly and a forked tail. Channel catfish are typically olive-brown with scattered dark spots and a deeply forked tail. Flathead catfish have a wide, flat head, a mottled brown and yellow coloration, and a slightly notched tail. All catfish share the characteristic whisker-like barbels around their mouths used to detect food.

Habitat

Catfish are found throughout Louisiana's rivers, lakes, bayous, reservoirs, and backwater areas. They are highly adaptable and thrive in a wide range of environments from slow-moving muddy bayous to fast-flowing river channels. Larger blue and flathead catfish are often associated with deep holes, river bends, submerged timber, and strong current breaks, while channel catfish can be found in almost any freshwater body across the state.

Average Size

Channel catfish typically weigh between 1 and 10 pounds, while blue catfish commonly reach 10 to 50 pounds. Flathead catfish generally weigh between 5 and 40 pounds, though all three species are capable of exceeding 50 pounds under the right conditions. Trophy blue catfish over 100 pounds have been caught in Louisiana waters.

Best Time to Catch

Catfish can be caught year-round in Louisiana, but spring and early summer are widely considered the most productive seasons as fish become more active and move shallower during the spawning period. Night fishing is often especially productive throughout the warmer months.

Fishing Tips

Catfish feed primarily by smell, making natural and prepared stink baits highly effective. Fresh cut bait such as shad, perch, and bream are top choices for larger blue and flathead catfish. Channel catfish respond well to chicken liver, nightcrawlers, and commercial catfish bait. Fish near the bottom around submerged timber, river bends, deep holes, and current breaks. Night fishing from the bank or a boat is a time-honored Louisiana tradition for targeting catfish.

Louisiana State Record

114 pounds — caught by Gerald Duplechin at Toledo Bend Reservoir in 2015. Louisiana's state-record blue catfish is one of the largest ever recorded in the South and highlights the trophy potential of the state's major river systems and reservoirs.

Fun Fact

The blue catfish is the largest freshwater fish native to North America. The largest blue catfish ever recorded weighed over 140 pounds, and Louisiana's major river systems hold some of the biggest populations of trophy-class blue catfish in the country.