How to ID catfish

[pagosapig]

I was fishing i while ago and caught this catfish(the attachment) and i can't decide if it is a channel or a blue...since i am new and fish alone or with other new fishers i was wondering if you could tell me what kind of catfish it is and ways to tell what kind of catfish a catch.
Thanks
-Ike
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[idahoron]

Yours is a channel cat. I have never caught a blue to my knowledge, but one I got looked almost right.
First the flat head is just that, and ugly. In the first picture you can see the difference in the channel and the flat head.
This is the fish that I thought was a blue in the second picture.
in this last picture look at the color of this cat Depending on the water, time of the year, and almost anything else the color of a cat can vary a lot. The one difference between a ble and a channel is the number of rays on the anal fin. I don't remember the number right now but that is another way to tell. You can also call the local fish and game and ask if that pond has any blues or channels. Ron
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[4poundonly]

Yep its a channel. Blues are usally taken in rough current.
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[jackherber]

It's a channel. That bottom fin near the tail is very rounded. That fin on a blue will be squared off.
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