Louisiana’s limit for catfish is very liberal, 100 per person for channel, blue, and flathead catfish combined, and no limits for bullheads, locally called “pollywogs” or “mud cats.”
But obeying size limits needs more attention. The minimum sizes are 14 inches for flathead catfish, 12 inches for blue catfish and 11 inches for channel catfish, the latter being the most commonly caught species in Lake Des Allemands.
The law does allow recreational fishermen to keep up to 25 undersized catfish per person for all species combined. But it is surprisingly easy to lose track of how many undersized catfish one has when the fish are really biting.
A handy tip for “bucket fishermen” is that the inside diameter of a plastic 5-gallon bucket is just a smidgen over 11 inches — the minimum size for channel catfish.
