The Largest Blue Catfish Ever Caught in Illinois Was a Swimming Hulk

Illinois is a midwestern state with a great fishing environment. The state has 2,900 lakes, a few large rivers, and a border along Lake Michigan. Blue catfish are some of the most popular targets for anglers in this state since they are large and put up a tremendous fight on the line. Discover the largest blue catfish ever caught in Illinois! Find out how large it was, when and where it was caught, and how it measures up to the all-time record.  

About Blue Catfish

Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) are very large fish that are native to the Rio Grande, Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri River basins. However, the popularity of this species as a game fish has led to people stocking them in many other states.

These fish are known for having a dark, gray-blue, or grayish color on their dorsal side. Their color lightens on their sides before turning white on their bellies. The species has smooth skin, lacking scales. Also, blue catfish are known for having deeply forked tails, between 30 and 36 rays on their anal fins, a large upper jaw, and four pairs of barbels around their mouths.

The average blue catfish can weigh anywhere between 25 and 40 pounds and between 24 and 46 inches long. However, the largest members of this species measure over 60 inches long and weigh over 100 pounds.  

Habitat and Diet

Blue catfish prefer to live in rivers, tributaries, lakes, and large ponds. They especially like deep sections of rivers with fast currents with substrates of sand, gravel, and mud. Although they prefer freshwater, the fish also demonstrate a tolerance for some salinity in brackish waters. Blue catfish stay in the deeper parts of the water during most of the day and hunt for their food in shallower waters at night.  

Blue catfish are very opportunistic predators. They eat a wide assortment of fish, amphibians, mollusks, insects, and crustaceans. Their propensity for eating other fish is problematic in areas like the Chesapeake Bay where they are an invasive species. Blue catfish in these areas feed on blue crabs, herring, shad, and alewives, greatly impacting their populations.

What Was the Largest Blue Catfish Ever Caught in Illinois?

The largest blue catfish ever caught in Illinois weighed 124 pounds 4 ounces, measured 58 inches long, and had a girth of 44 inches. A man named Tim Pruitt from Fosterburg, Illinois caught this gigantic fish on May 21, 2005, on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. More specifically, the record-setting catch was made south of Alton, below the Alton Lock and Dam.

He caught the fish while on a boat with his wife and another friend. He got the massive fish on the line and fought it for 40 minutes before bringing it aboard. The fish managed to pull the boat about three miles downstream during the struggle.

The long battle propelled Tim Pruitt to the forefront of the Illinois record books. The former record weighed only 85 pounds!

Where Is Alton on a Map?

Alton is a city in southwestern Illinois, and its southwestern border extends into the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri. The city is in Madison County, and it has a population of nearly 26,000 people. Alton is considered a part of the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. The confluence of the Missouri River and the Mississippi River occurs a few miles downstream from the city.

Other Fish People Catch in the Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States. With a waterway measuring 2,320 miles, it should come as no surprise that many different fish live in these waters. Some of the fish that live in these waters are:

• Flathead catfish
• Northern pike
• Walleye
• Smallmouth bass
• Largemouth bass
• Lake sturgeon
• Black crappie
• Paddlefish
• Shovelnose sturgeon
• Grass carp

Anglers have a wide variety of different fish that they can catch when fishing on the Mighty Mississippi. Few of them can match the blue catfish in terms of size, though.

Was the Largest Blue Catfish Ever Caught in Illinois a World Record?

The largest blue catfish ever caught in Illinois was a world record at the time it was captured. However, the record would not stand forever. Anglers captured larger members of the species just a few short years later. The latest record was set on June 18, 2011, when a man named Richard Anderson captured a 143-pound blue catfish.

This hulking fish broke Illinois’ record by almost 20 pounds. Anderson caught this gigantic fish on Kerr Lake in Virginia. To get the blue catfish to bite on the line, he supposedly used chicken as bait! Although that may sound unusual, anglers use a wide assortment of different baits to get blue catfish to bite. Since the species is not very picky about their food, it’s not unusual for people to use food from their cupboards to catch blue catfish.

Anderson battled the monster fish for 45 minutes before he managed to reel it in. The fish measured 57 inches long and had a girth of 43.5 inches.

So, the largest blue catfish ever caught in Illinois is no longer the world record. Yet, for a brief, shining moment, the biggest member of the species ever captured came from the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois. The fact that such a large fish was captured in this region could mean that other large specimens are lurking in the waters these days.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © USFWS Mountain-Prairie / Flickr – License / Original