A catch so rare that it’s spared the dinner table

Robyn Bordelon has landed more catfish than she can count, but her recent catch of a 10-pound blue catfish is likely one that she’ll never forget.

The fish, caught from a kayak on the Mississippi River, had no blue pigmentation. It was mostly white with a piebald pattern more likely to appear on a horse or cow, with a pink-and-black tail.

“I’ve seen pictures of these fish, but I never thought one would grace my line,” Bordelon, who is from Destrehan, La., told For The Win Outdoors. “That’s the best Monday I’ve had in a long time, and watching that fish swim away was priceless.”

Bordelon, who retrieved her baited jug lines on March 16 in the hope of landing fish she could store in her freezer, said she could not bring herself to keep the odd-looking catfish.

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It was likely leucistic, a rare condition in which skin lacks typical pigmentation.

“That fish is at a disadvantage from birth with a mostly white coloration that sticks out to predators,” Bordelon told Louisiana Sportsman, explaining why she set it free. “When I pulled up the line and saw what it was – and how big it was – I almost lost my lunch.”

Bordelon told For The Win Outdoors that she likes to fish with a rod and reel, but when the river is high during the spring runoff she uses her kayak to set jug lines.

The anchored lines, with jugs serving as floats, are baited with shad or mullet and allowed to sit for extended periods. Bordelon waited about 24 hours before checking her lines on March 16, but the leucistic catfish appeared to have been freshly hooked.

She told Louisiana Sportsman: “I quickly got it netted, took pics, revived it, and happily watched it swim away.”

–Images showing Robyn Bordelon with a rare leucistic blue catfish, and a normal-looking blue catfish (bottom), are courtesy of Robyn Bordelon