Man--I was catfishing tonight. I typed a reply on my phone, got a fish, and lost the reply I typed up on my cell :0...
You can check the MA fish and game dept site. I believe a pond in NE MA produced a good channel cat in the late 90s early 2000s that is still on the site.
10-15 years ago, I know a limited amount of channels were stocked in a few ponds/rivers. I don't think the goal was a breeding population... Mother Brook in Dedham had a small stocking I believe about a decade ago...
I caught 1 channel catfish in Mother Brook last summer. It's in my pictures. That being said, I caught at least 100 catfish there last year. Maybe 60 white catfish, 39 bullheads, and one channel. It was really long and skinny. Maybe 3 pounds. They can live 14 years.
I'm confident the Mother Brook is not holding a breeding population. I don't believe the channel cat info on the MA fish and game site is current or accurate.
If you want a channel cat in MA, you're pretty much going to need to head out to the CT river (which I'm doing in a couple weeks cause I'm long overdue for one). Before it gets dark, you can catch loads of other fish in the CT you won't find in eastern MA.
You can check the MA fish and game dept site. I believe a pond in NE MA produced a good channel cat in the late 90s early 2000s that is still on the site.
10-15 years ago, I know a limited amount of channels were stocked in a few ponds/rivers. I don't think the goal was a breeding population... Mother Brook in Dedham had a small stocking I believe about a decade ago...
I caught 1 channel catfish in Mother Brook last summer. It's in my pictures. That being said, I caught at least 100 catfish there last year. Maybe 60 white catfish, 39 bullheads, and one channel. It was really long and skinny. Maybe 3 pounds. They can live 14 years.
I'm confident the Mother Brook is not holding a breeding population. I don't believe the channel cat info on the MA fish and game site is current or accurate.
If you want a channel cat in MA, you're pretty much going to need to head out to the CT river (which I'm doing in a couple weeks cause I'm long overdue for one). Before it gets dark, you can catch loads of other fish in the CT you won't find in eastern MA.