Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Catfish ID

I saw two 14" catfish when feeding the BG this morning. Their tails were slightly forked but not nearly as forked as most channel cat pictures I see on the web. Their size, and the fact that I originally stocked CC, make me think that they are CC, but could they be bullheads? I caught a 4" catfish at the bottom of the tube that exits the pond yesterday and did not see any fork in its tail. Do young CC have less forked tails? I lost a bunch of very large CC in a fish kill a couple years ago in this pond and wonder if the survivors are all male since they are smaller?

Maybe hybrids?

I don't remember hearing of a bullhead and catfish cross. You think you might be able to catch one and take a pic?

Page 247 - Looks like what I saw.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Nh7Qa1yE0MQC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=%22channel+catfish+x+black+bullhead%22&source=bl&ots=-4iFy3SrDa&sig=V0BXlcCa3OugLa46Tkj41K_s8fc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xAbHUcCSDNLaqQHfo4CIBA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22channel%20catfish%20x%20black%20bullhead%22&f=false

Tried to catch it, but it was not interested in artificial bait. Did not act like a CC.

Young CC usually have more forked tails than larger fish.

Not good but maybe someone can identify by tail?

Looks like a CC to me. Not all CC have very sharply forked tails. It could be a bullhead, but even the coloration appears to be CC and not bullhead. Until it gets caught, or a better underwater photo is available it is hard to say for sure though.

It has a forked tail, although slight, so I do not think it is pure bullhead, but maybe a hybrid. No luck catching it on artificial lures so far.

Can you drop a work on a hook in front of it as it's cruising by?

I saw a CC in my pond about a week ago, and it looked like it was guarding a nest. At least it was in a cleaned area of the pond bottom, and kept returning. It had a patch of skin on it's head and another one near it's tail that was raw, like it was fighting. I got a live 'crawler and dropped it into the area. It sucked it up pretty quickly, but the line must have gotten caught on the reel, when it made a run the line popped right at the reel. Newer (this year) 8# Vanish.

I am not aware of any documented occurrences of bullheads hybridizing with CC.

According to the book at the link posted earlier in this string, they can hybridize, but I am guessing it is not common. I had a fish kill a couple years ago that took out most of my CC. My thoughts are that if a couple survived, they may have been able to out compete the smaller bullheads. I have never seen a bullhead in the pond, but have seen small ones below the exit pipe. The pond dammed up a transient very small ditch that could have held some bullhead fry. If I catch one of these catfish, I'll try to get better pictures.