Channel Catfish are Growing in Lake Norman

 We are all aware of the existence of Channel Catfish in Lake Norman. For years these small fish (less than 4 pounds) have been considered a nuisance to anglers because they bite at any live bait and often a lure, they are not big enough to be considered good to eat, they seem to be everywhere, even where the bass should be located. During these warm water periods, the small channels have always been a nuisance.

For some reason the size of the channels are getting much bigger. I have been catching channels regularly that are 5 pounds and bigger and they fight like mad, no longer considered a nuisance. There seems to be no known reason for this sudden growth. It is not unusual in other southern lakes to catch large channels, 5 pounds and up. Years ago I fished in the red river in North Dakota for channels and got one that was close to 50 pounds. But here in Norman they have always been small. 

I have discussed this situation with the Wildlife Commission personnel and they don't tend to agree with me and cannot provide a reason why it might occur. This might be because they don't regularly fish this lake and they really don't care about the catfish population or its conditions. If readers have noticed the same situation, please let me know because despite the Commission, the situation does exist.

This photo is a 30 inch channel cat, weighing more than 7 pounds. It was an exciting catch and fought as good as most stripers. There was actually enough meat on this fish for a couple good filets if that was my objective.