Blue catfish in Arizona ?

[asukevin]

how come they dont have blue catfish in arizona?

[explayer]

I think because there is not enough running water to support them but I am not sure

[AZCAT]

thats a good question. i looked some stuff up on the internet and it said..


1. Habitat and Range
Blue cats thrive in rivers and large impoundments. In rivers, they favor faster, clearer water than channel cats do and are usually found over a bottom of clean sand, gravel or rubble.
Blue catfish prefer water temperatures between 77 and 82 degrees. Like channel catfish, blues are often found in tailrace areas, where food is abundant. Blue catfish are native to the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river drainages, and their range extends south into Mexico and northern Guatemala. Blues have been stocked successfully in many reservoirs in both the eastern and western U.S.

So i think they like clear moving water, but according to this they have been stocked in reservoirs in the West. I think that would be a good question to ask Game and fish. That would be awesome if the lakes had Blues!

[bluehunter]

I remember looking up some info regarding AZ blues one time and I think there were a few waters that had blues in it. Not in the river system of Az, but in some lakes. They are not widely in Az, but I believe they were some stocked one time in a few waters there.

[martinman]

Kevin,

From what I understand, blue catfish originate in the southeastern section of the United States. Most areas where you find them outside of the southeast have been transplanted.

I have heard rumors about blue catfish in the Colorado river, but I don't know how accurate this information is. Bluehunter or Riverbud would probably know more about this than I do.

The current state record blue catfish was caught down in Tucson. However, the location that it was caught from is now a golf course. I think blue cats would do fine in Arizona, but I just don't think they have really been introduced to the area.

[bluehunter]

I heard rumors about blue cats being in the Colorado as well, but never heard of any reports of blue cats from there. You would think that a good population of them would be tere with the forage, moving water, ad bait fish that available. But its does not hold the deep pockets and areas like the rivers in the mid west and south to support a good population of blues in my opinion.