red fins on catfish

[Chick Richards]

I caught this catfish this morning in South West Florida in a freshwater canal.  This is the first time I have ever seen red fins on a catfish.  Is this normal or is this some kind of catfish disease. Any help would be greatly appreciated..

[Jim Gronaw]

Yes...it's a fine bullhead, either a black or a brown. Colors of these twp species can vary from one body of water to the next. Black bullheads tend to have white bellies and brown and yellow bullheads have yellow underbellys.

Nice feeesh!

[Vince Fusco]

It looks like some kind of Bullhead, and if so it is a dandy! I am saying this based on the shape of it's head, and kinda rounded off tail. I have caught them with bloody looking fins but never did know what made them that way. 

[Bruce Tomaselli]

I never realized there were freshwater fish in Florida.

[Chick Richards]

There's a lot of freshwater in Florida.  The problem is finding a spot to fling a worm that from that somebodys not already built a house or condo on!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Hahaha! I've caught bass in drainage ponds in Florida!
Roadside ditches? Oh yeah.
Golf course water? Yep.
Small creeks and backwaters? Of course.
I wish I'd had a kayak, back then. Park the truck, toss her in and go.

[Allen Morgan]

And here, I was thinking it was a small Flathead, due to the coloration and the squared-off tail.  Did you get a good look at the tooth pads in the mouth?  On bullheads, the sides of the tooth pads are square with the lips.  On a Flathead, the ends of the tooth pads angle back, giving the tooth pads a really funky look.  This is probably the best way to tell a juvenile Flathead from a decent Bullhead.

BTW, nice fish!  Bullheads here in OK rarely get more than 8" long.  I think all the Flatheads eat them.

I've never seen red fins like that on cats that I bring home.  That's probably because I cut their blood vessels between the heart of gills when I put them on ice.  I do that at the first available gas station after I leave the water.

[jason grimm]

last time I remember reading on catfish species, bullheads don't get that big?

[Vince Fusco]

I caught one (a bullhead) back in the early 90's that weighed 2 lbs even on a 10' little jewel telescopic, while gill fishing off a dock . I had more than my hands full with that one, as it was my personal best bullhead. I wish I still had a picture of that one to post.  

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

The record is something like 7 pounds?
Depends on the species and location. I've seen em that go 2-3 pounds.
But you're right, in that most don't get bigger than a frying pan (hint, hint)...