With blue and flathead catfish frequently being caught at Lake Wylie, anglers are wondering how they got in the lake.
Robert Stroud, a fisheries biologist for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources who covers Lake Wylie, said he has no definitive answer but the fisheries for both species are growing.
“The blues and flatheads have been caught for several years now, and the populations of both have grown considerably,” Stroud said. “The blue and flathead catfish are both now being caught in good numbers and huge sizes at Wylie.
“It is important to note that these species were not stocked by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. To our knowledge, they were not stocked by North Carolina officials, either. My educated guess is they were originally put in the lake by other fishermen.
“The overall catfish population is still doing very well at Lake Wylie for the channel and bullhead catfish — the two original species,” Stroud said. “With the addition of the flathead and blue catfish, we’ve now got four different catfish species that provide good fishing for recreational anglers. We’ve documented successful reproduction of both blues and flatheads, so it looks like they’re here to stay.”
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