Looks like catmandoo and Todd3138 are coming to my pond this Sunday afternoon through Monday for a Bullhead Relocation and Beer Recycling Festival. We're calling it "B.R. Squared."

PB member, wivell, may also join us.

If anyone else wants to come, speak up!

We're getting t-shirts printed for this, right? "2012 BR Squared Pond Boss Festival"

Uh....I hadn't considered that.

How about I just bring a permanent sharpie marker and write that on your forehead (or bald head) after you pass out???

Yes, please do that!

Bullhead fishing is a good enough reason for beer. On second thought, what isn't a good enough reason for beer?

Hurrmph! Let's not make fun of bald heads! Just remember -- two-thirds of the sponsors of this program fit that description.

We don't know who all is going to join us. With Todd and Sunil present, we can predict a good time.

I'll make sure we have some good eatn'. I'm trying to convince two other crazy Pond Boss friends to join us (actually, I have to convince their wives to let them join us). If y'all make fun of my cooking, you've never eatn' nuttin' tasty 'til you've sampled what these guys can fix from what they find in the local mountains.

Time to get some things ready for the smoker!

Ken

I charge full retail for advertising on my noggin!

Hey! Easy now!

Maybe we can autograph some of the fish we catch. I can smoke and dry them, and then we can auction the fillets at the upcoming national PB conference!

That's some out-of-the-box thinking right there, folks!

I feel we're going to cull at least 150 bullheads or more, I hope.

But we should get perch, bluegill, some crappie, maybe a pike, and some other random options. Ken, you got a good white sucker recipe?

I'll bring a wheelbarrow to roll each of you to your vehicles at the end of our feast!

It's been a long time since I've had access to suckers. But I've had them pickled, smoked, and served as fish patties using a crab cake recipe. Pickling/canning them pretty much dissolves the bones. If they are deep fried, the small bones get very crispy and aren't much of a problem.

If you have to wheel-barrow me to my car, then you might as well drive me home.

But if I drive you home, there's no chance I'll get to represent you later on!

Are you admitted to the bar in PA?

I will be by the time you need me! Planning to expand into the SW PA market in the not too distant future, largely because you're my friend and I need to have your back!

Some pretty wild video coming.....

Culled about 40-50 bullhead thus far, cleaned and eaten!

With some YP, Crappie, and Bluegill..

As always, Sunil was the very gracious host. Todd L. Is here, along with a couple of other friends of mine. We caught 40-50 of the biggest bullheads I've ever seen. We filleted about 30 of them that got beer-battered and deep fried to perfection.

I've just got my phone, so I can't easily post photos or videos of the fun.

Oh, we also got some perch. A number of them were nearly as big as the ones Cecil raises.

Video below....

Just to clarify, none of Sunil's BG were harmed during the making of this video. At least we're pretty sure none of Sunil's BG were harmed during the making of this video.

We don't have able editing capability right now....

Why do we need that?

I see the WV militia is well armed...and bearded! Good lord.

Wish you were here, boy!!!

Me too. Imagine things would have gotten even a little more crazy...if possible.

Things have calmed down now that 3/5 of the attendees are now domiciled at the palatial Knights Inn in Somerset, PA.

Again, amazing what you don't get for $45.00/night!

I have no idea what's going on at the pond right now with the other 2/5.

From the camera angle it looked like the gun (or the shooter) was shooting a bit high.....

There's rain headed your way! Should be there by the morning.

Looks like you all had a great time... Bullheads are some great eating, I like em better than CC. Which species of bullhead are they?

Brown Bulls, I think.

We're heading back over now for more culling.

And perhaps more video...

Is that Todd in the video?

Is there a shiny head in the video?

Shiny on top but the bottom is hairy. Sort of that upside down look.

That's great. I know you guys had a "wild & crazy" time!!!!!!!

I'll let Sunil and/or Todd explain these photos from this morning.





A great time was had by all. Sunil's pond is incredible. He's got the biggest bullheads and yellow perch I've ever caught anywhere.

Geez, drunks with guns. Wish I could have been there.

Yikes, not what I want to see in a toilet with my family jewels so close by...

So there's a total of (5) of us. Three PB Members (catmandoo, Todd3138, and myself) plus two of catmandoo's friends from WV (Gary and Dwain).

We all get there Sunday, and have a great time catching fish, drinking beers (and some Crown), having a good time. Then, catmandoo, Gary, and Dwain proceed to clean and cook a mess of fish.

Todd tries to cook some taters, but somehow only ends up with three edible tots for the five of us.

So Sunday night, cat, Todd, and myself are staying at the palatial Knights Inn in town while Gary and Dwain are camping out at my pond.

On Monday morning, we three go get some breakfast at a diner. Todd divulges that he is still drunk, and I inform him that I'm not feeling so hot myself.

All the fried fish seemed to work over my gut.

When we return to the property, Gary and Dwain are out on the boat. As the other three of us start shore fishing, we also generally chat with the two WV boaters.

I finally declare that I have to hit the Port-O-Pod, and Gary replies "you've got to do what you've got to do."

So I head up to the john, throw open the door, and almost step in, when I see this snapping turtle just sitting there in the footwell of the john. I almost crapped my pants, and then just shut the door. I had almost stepped on the turtle. I thought to myself, was there really a turtle just sitting in there. I really had to go to the bathroom. I thought to myself, these guys are a total bunch of yahoos, but it was very funny.

Then, as I walked back to the pond to tell cat and Todd about the new denizen of the john, I wondered if these two guys were just storing the turtle there in lieu of a better place, pending departure.

These two guys, Gary and Dwain, are just great people.

We had a blast and culled about 80-100 bullhead from the pond, along with catching some YP, BC, BG, SMB, and LMB.

Good times!!!!

Yes, that is me sporting the upside down look. I figure anyone can grow hair on the top of their head, so why not accept the challenge of just flipping things around!

All I can say is the trip did not disappoint! We had an absolute blast from the moment we arrived until we left. The turtle this morning was hysterical! Poor Sunil had as genuinely a crestfallen look on his face as I've seen in a long time. He was emotionally bound up, struggling between the need to use the port-o-john and a strong desire to have nothing to do with that turtle! He wasn't about to move it out and so Ken and I had to come to his aid. A swift kick got it out of there so Sunil could attend to business. What a hoot that was!

Scott, the first shots were on target with the cans and then the rest were actually intentionally high because we wanted to capture the rounds hitting the water for the video - we all agreed it was pretty amusing and somewhat spectacular to see the spray. I had to shoot over top of the spool to avoid shooting it up. Of course, quite a few rounds ended up grazing the top of it anyway so it now bears permanent scars from the BR Squared weekend festivities. Seems the black rifle is becoming a staple of days at Sunil's pond!

Catmandoo did not disappoint on the camp food end of things, again! He and Gary actually made quite the team cooking up the bullheads. Those guys are just plain good! Next time I'll double wrap the potatoes in foil as opposed to a single - two of them ended up coming out of the foil somehow and got just a tad on the crispy side!

What fun!

Oh, there's always room for improvement! I'm sure you would have added richly to the experience!

Shoulda seen us about three hours later! The video was shot upside down somehow! I knew Dwain had more to drink than he was letting on! We did manage to scare away the geese from Sunil's pond after that round in the dark - we heard them honking as they flew off into the night!

Yeah, drunks with guns are cool but would've been better with you around for sure!

What a waste...no PVC?!?!?! Not even a ventilated porta-potty....

No, but your exploits with PVC muskrats did occupy some of our discussion last night! You are now becoming legendary even among the non-PB crowd!

If my schedule would allow it, I'd drive over for the next one!

I'm taking a break. I just filleted somewhere around 80-90 bullhead's that we brought back from our weekend at Sunil's pond near Somerset, PA. More on the filleting in another post.

First of all, if you've never met Sunil, you need to make the next PB conference. Todd L., and I feel very fortunate to now have been invited to fish his pond for the second time. It is just an incredible fishery, with the most overweight fish you've ever seen -- and with varieties you usually only see in really large bodies of water.

I knew a little bit about Sunil from my early days of the PB forum, but when my wife and I walked into the first official PB conference a number of years ago, he opened the door to the conference center for us, and he greeted us with his usual bear hug. Sunil could have been the activities director on the "Love Boat" or the emcee at some popular star's facility in Branson, Myrtle Beach, or Las Vegas.



Although it may not always be obvious, Sunil brings out the best in people.



Before dinner, in complete darkness, our friend Dwain filleted and skinned a bunch of the bullheads we caught. He's got a great technique where he somehow does it with just his pocket knife over a bucket. As far as I know, not a single bone was detected in any of the fried bullhead filets that cooled enough for us to consume in very quick bites.



In the very dark of dark, our friend Gary prepared the breading and beer batter for the filets.



Sunil tasted the first piece of Gary's cooking.



The fish and friendship were fantastic.

Sunil -- thanks so much for hosting such a great time.

Looks like you all had a great time!

When Sunil is around, it is always "SHOWTIME"!!

I have to completely echo Ken's sentiments - just an all around great time and Sunil is truly fun to be around!

Come on Guys!! We're all fun to be around!

Ken has been recounting what he, and Gary/Dwain, were seeing in the bullheads they cleaned. Little to no fish. Lots of what looked like FA.

Ken, can you add in?

Funny thing is we were catching a lot of them on fatheads and small shiners. A lot were caught on worms. We also caught a lot during times when feed was thrown out as well as no-feed times.

Somehow, I transposed my hatred of Bullhead onto Todd. He talked real bad to them, and even kicked them a few times.

I think my opinion on bullheads may be 'evolving.' Well, no. I still can't stand 'em.

I knew bullies eat "anything", but FA?! New one on me.

Benson (1975) found that brown bullheads in a small impoundment of the Tygart River in West Virginia consumed 54.2% plant material, 22.7% invertebrates, 21.9% detritus, and 1.1% fish. The same study found that brown bullheads in the Monongahela River consumed 36.1% sewage, 33.4% detritus, 18.8% invertebrates, 6.1% plants, and 5.6% fish.

Common invertebrates consumed included midges, worms, copepods, beetles, caddisflies, and crayfish. Fish collected near sewage outfalls consumed large amounts of sewage and invertebrates associated with sewage. Leeches, mollusks, fish eggs, and frogs are also common foods of adults.

Juveniles (30 – 60 mm) are primarily carnivorous, and feed mostly on cladocerans, ostracods, amphipods, bugs, and mayflies, as well as eggs and larvae of other fish (FishBase 2001).

Brown bullheads prefer midge larvae (Chironomid) and scuds (Hyalella sp.) (Klarberg and Benson 1975, Kline and Wood 1996). Chironomid larvae made up only 2.9% of bottom-dwelling invertebrates in a West Virginia river, but made up 10.1% of the invertebrates eaten by brown bullheads (Klarberg and Benson 1975). Young-of-the year (YOY) consume more Chironomid larvae (71%) than do adults (38%), while adults consume more scuds (44%) than do YOY (4%) (Kline and Wood 1996). Raney and Webster (1940) reported that young of the year consume mostly Cladocera (25.0%), Diptera (24.3%), and Ostracoda (20.5%).

Brown bullheads are able to digest and utilize filamentous algae and consume large amounts (as much as 60% of their diet) of this food source (Gunn et al. 1977).

O.K. I nominate CJ to stock a pond with brown bullheads and fertilize it heavily to get a good crop of FA, then see how well they do at keeping it in check.

I suppose that if there's nothing else in the pond to eat.....

I'll pass... I have seen more than one pond infested with both FA and bullheads.

Hmmm! I have my opinions, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Right now, few of them agree in my mind. I need some time to digest all of what we experienced.

More, with lots of photos in the coming days. Maybe somebody else can make sense of our weekend.

I just know that my ideas of brown and yellow bullheads, plus one black bullhead, sure changed my thinking in the last few days.

Ken

Me too.

Me three!

I'll just go ahead and say "Todd four!"

I am definitely curious to see the different bullhead photos.

I sure hope so. A lot of it really hazy to me!

Ken, I keep forgetting to ask...what did any of the crappie or yellow perch have in their guts?

[Sorry it took me so long to get back to posting. Kind of like Lusk's "good news, bad news" writeup in the latest Pond Boss issue, that is what it has been like for the last month. Fishing at Sunil's and an unexpected new pond, courtesy of the powerline on my property were the good/fun news.]

Anyway, my whole perspective on bullheads really changed after this trip to Sunil's. I'd never before seen bullheads like the ones we pulled out of Sunil's pond. These things were huge. They were the size that channel catfish dealers usually harvest for commercial fillets.

Here are 60 of them:


This is what they typically looked like:






I filleted and skinned about 80 of them. Twenty that we ate on Sunday night, and another 60 on Tuesday morning -- those shown in the cooler photo above. As would be expected, they were about 50%/50% male/female. The females were full of eggs, or they'd just emptied. Some of the males were filled with milt, others were not. The interesting thing was what was in the stomachs. I looked in probably at least a quarter of the stomachs of the bullheads. I saw no evidence of bugs, fish, snails, etc. I saw what appeared to be filamentous algae! I don't know what to say. This is typically what I saw inside the bullheads:







A number of them also had some rather serious hemorrhoids, or rectal prolapse:



As for what was in the crappie and yellow perch stomachs -- I didn't look! We got so many bullheads, which I cleaned first, I didn't have the energy to look in the stomachs of the other fish we got.

By the way, I'd have to say that Dave Davidson's Texas Jumpers (scary worms) made the best bait.

Ken

Very interesting findings.

My hatred of bullheads has waned, ever so slightly, due to the FA consumption.

But Todd really still hates them, and I don't think he even has any in his pond. Time to send 'Ole Mudcat Joe down to WV....

Sunil- Those are some dandy sized bullheads. Very interesting.. eating FA. How many do you harvest each year? How long does it take them to get that big? You wouldn't belive how many people up here love that fish!

I take out every one that I catch, and throw them up on the bank. Over the course of a given year, I might remove 40 or so.

As far as how old these fish are, i really don't know. I'm guessing 4-5 years old.

Don't get excited guys. They ingest FA while feeding on or near the bottom. It is not a major food source for them nor a cure to the pond owners FA problem. http://www.fishbase.us/TrophicEco/FoodIt...species=natalis

One can dream, right????

Heck, I'm OK with accidental ingestion of FA too!

If they eat it by accident when consuming something else. Would it stand to reason than, if the FA were flavored some way BH would continue to eat it. Sure they would starve to death only eating FA but heck we could have solved two problems at once. Removal of FA and killing the much hated whisker fish.

Many of the studies I looked at indicated not only did bullheads specifically eat FA, but could digest it and utilize it as a primary food source. See above posted studies...

Sunil, those bullheads are black bullheads. At least from the ones I could see.

Hey EWEST -- Don't tell Sunil that! That was some of the most enjoyable fishing ever. I need to get invited back regularly to cull those things so we can have more neighborhood fish frys.

Hey Sunil -- don't pay any attention to Eric. Those are very beneficial fish that need to get culled now and then! Are you coming to Gary's bullhead fry on Saturday?

I don't think they were black bullheads. I'm thinking they were either yellow or brown bulkheads. I'm on the road as usual, so I'm on my phone. I'll post pictures of their whiskers and fins when I get to a computer. From the colors of their chins and whiskers I couldn't tell.

All I know is that they are fun to catch and delicious to eat.

Thanks, CJ. I think I have a mix of brown and black nasties.

I've got a neighborhood retention pond that I've been stocking with shiners, fatheads, and bluegill. The pond is brutalized with FA.

I might have to bring some bullies over.

CJ do you have the full cites of those studies or what was the source. From here ? http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/re...wn_bullhead.pdf

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Ameiurus-nebulosus.html

A nocturnal feeder that feeds mollusks, insects, leeches, crayfish and plankton, worms, algae, plant material, fishes and has been reported to feed on eggs of least cisco, herring and lake trout (Ref. 1998). Juveniles (3-6 cm) feed mostly on chironomid larvae, cladocerans, ostracods, amphipods, bugs and mayflies (Ref. 1998)

Food items - Fishbase Brown Bullhead

http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodI...ecies=nebulosus

Yes, from there Eric.

Thanks. I will see if I can get us a copy of the actual studies.