Unreported Record Bullhead?

[CrankFate]

I saw this picture, posted from New Jersey. Says this is a black bullhead. I can’t tell from the pictures. If it’s a brown bullhead, it would beat the state record of 4lbs. I know I never caught any kind of bullhead anywhere near this size. Looks close to the black bullhead world record of 8lbs 2oz to me.

 

The guy also says there are bigger ones in this pond.

 

[soflabasser]

The catfish you showed in your picture has a forked tail.

[ArthurLK11]

Yeah that's not going to be a bullhead of any kind. 

[CrankFate]

16 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

The catfish you showed in your picture has a forked tail.

Good point, that brings me to Channel Cat, which makes more sense to me. But the pectorals look short to me, which would be black bullhead. Plus, the head doesn’t look like a channel.

 

What is it?

[ArthurLK11]

2 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Good point, that brings me to Channel Cat, which makes more sense to me. But the pectorals look short to me, which would be black bullhead. Plus, the head doesn’t look like a channel.

 

What is it?

The pictures are awful, but my initial thought was white catfish. 

[Dwight Hottle]

Looks like a channel cat to me with the forked tail. Pictures of black bullheads display a rounded tail. I have only caught brown bullheads and channel cats. 

[soflabasser]

4 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Good point, that brings me to Channel Cat, which makes more sense to me. But the pectorals look short to me, which would be black bullhead. Plus, the head doesn’t look like a channel.

 

What is it?

The catfish you showed in the picture appears to be a channel catfish. It is not a white catfish or brown bullhead, I know since I have caught several of them. You can find catfish identification pictures online and you will see that the catfish you showed in the picture is most likely a channel catfish.

[CrankFate]

I should go to this place to see for myself. I know what a channel cat looks like, so I’ll be able to identify if I catch one.

[fishingtx]

9 hours ago, CrankFate said:

What is it?

a catfish clearly?

nah, it's probably a channel cat

[CrankFate]

5 minutes ago, bass4life.... said:

a catfish clearly?

nah, it's probably a channel cat

Well according to the internets there are catfish and there are bullheads. I swear. I googled it.

 

https://goneoutdoors.com/difference-between-bullheads-catfish-8583849.html

[Bluebasser86]

White catfish are a kind of bullhead and don't have deeply forked tails (although they're more forked than other bullheads).

 

That's a channel cat 100%.

 

Funny story though. I caught an 8lb bullhead when I was teenager fishing for flatheads with green sunfish. Had no idea what it was, thought it was some kind of flathead/channel cat hybrid due to the rounded head like a channel, but rounded tail like a flathead. Obviously 8lbs is very small for a flathead, didn't even take a picture of it. I realized many years later that the fish I'd caught was actually a monster bullhead (likely a black bullhead which it might have been broken since I'd caught that fish now that the record is just over 8lbs, hard to tell since I weighed it on an old but pretty accurate spring scale). 

[fishingtx]

 

On 5/19/2021 at 9:45 AM, CrankFate said:

Looks close to the black bullhead world record of 8lbs 2oz to me.

accidentally stumbled upon this

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/world-record-bullhead/

[N Florida Mike]

^^^^ That fish looks like a channel too . Look at the tail...

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

^^^^ That fish looks like a channel too . Look at the tail...

Ya - that ain't a bullhead unless it's a genetic deformity. Bullheads normally don't have forks in their tails

[Bluebasser86]

Nothing about that fish looks like a bullhead. I saw this a couple days ago and had a facepalm moment. Can't believe that Outdoor Life published it. I hope someone at IGFA actually knows what a bullhead looks like or that's going to be a giant mistake of a record. 

[N Florida Mike]

And the fact that Bob McNally wrote the article. He’s a highly respected outdoor writer from my area...

[CrankFate]

Cue the X-Files music......

[S Hovanec]

No way is it a bullhead.  It has a forked tail, bullhead is rounded.