Blue Catfish: Blue catfish have a deeply forked tail and light gray or silver colored body. They get their name from the blue overcast to their body most obvious on the top of their head and down their back. Blue catfish differ from the very similar channel catfish by having a longer anal fin (30-36 rays compared to 24-30 on a channel catfish) with a straight bottom edge, as opposed to a rounded bottom edge. Also, blue catfish never have black spots on their body like those on young channel catfish

Channel Catfish: The channel catfish, like other catfish, has no scales, a single bony spine in each pectoral fin and the dorsal fin, and 8 barbels around the mouth. They have a deeply forked tail and the upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw. The dorsal and pectoral spines are sharp and deeply serrated, and the anal fin is curved and has between 24 and 30 rays. The body can be blue, gray, silver, or almost black. Their belly is usually white or cream colored. Small individuals are usually more silver in color and often have many black spots on their sides. Some anglers mistakenly call large channel catfish with few or no spots blue catfish, but the blue catfish has an anal fin with a straight edge and greater than 30 rays

Flathead Catfish: The flathead catfish is the only North American catfish species whose lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw. Their head is flattened between the eyes and they have a very large mouth. This is also the only large catfish with a square tail. Their body color is usually yellow-olive or a brown with dark brown blotches. Their belly is yellow or yellowish white.

Internet go'ers state...

- "My taste buds are old and numbed by years of spicy food, but as far as I can tell catfish is just plain white mild fish, with a moist and succulent texture - you gonna love it! (Pardon me, it's a Southern favorite - "Bless yo' heart, ahm sure y'all will just love it!"

- "I too am a big fan of catfish. Probably my favourite freshwater fish."

- "I don't see why you don't just go ahead and try it. It's not like you're ordering caviar or a lobster. If you don't like it, don't eat it. It won't set you back very much"

- "The current farm raised catfish is very mild and certainly not fishy in my opinion. The "old story" on catfish was that it was muddy tasting. This might have been true back in the days when catfish was lline caught from ponds and rivers. Being from the south, a big platter of golden fried catfish with some hushpuppies and cole slaw is a dinner to enjoy."

- "I love catfish. And they DO sometimes have a very slight taste of the earth. I think it's that you probably have a very acute palate. Sometimes that taste is much less pronounced. I've found if the fish is wild caught you won't taste the mustiness much at all. With farm raised catfish, the musty taste is stronger."