Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Yellow Bullhead; quest

Much in need of some yellow bullhead catfish....
(y'all know the ones with the cute all-white
central chin barbels)

Have exhausted all the other sites....polyculture,
fisheries, native fish conservancies, fisherman,
classifieds...with no positive results.

Someone in the know (ok, it was only Cecil), suggested I try the folks at Pond Boss.
My guess is there is no fish you would rather
have out of your pond than the YB.

So don't prove Cecil wrong.....Who has 1 to 3
dozen YB they can ship to me in SW Wash???

Finders fee paid to whoever puts me in touch with
the individual I have send me 1 to 3 dozen live
yellow bullhead.

PS If ye don't come up with me YB I'll put
a hex on all ye graemlins!

Hi Bob,

I have been doing searches for Yellow Bullhead Catfish thinking I might stumble onto something for you, but with no success. But I had a couple of thoughts. Pay ponds throughout the mid west use to stock heavily with catfish. If you can find any in Washington you might call the owners go there and watch what the people are catching and if you find any with Yellow Bullheads, you could buy them. The other thing you might do is to find a couple of conservation clubs in your area and print out flyers with a picture of the Yellow Bullhead and offer money for any that are caught for you. You also could put posters at different lake boat ramps with your telephone number in case they caught any to sell you. I once paid kids to catch crawfish for me.

John

John,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
Washington state has very few fish for
fee lakes. Even the one along I-5 FWy
couldn't make a go of it.....And what fish
for fee ponds we do have, most are stocked
with varieties of trout not warm water species.

As far as offering to buy fish from sports
fisherman...this is strictly taboo. Gamefish
(which YB is considered) can not be sold, traded,
bartered....etc. Ergo, nothing as overt as you
described (posting "bounty rewards" would work
here)

I have surveyed bank fisherman on a variety of
likely sloughs etc....no luck and I'm afraid
that the summer weather will be coming to an
end and my chances of getting YB are quickly diminishing.

I do appreciate your trying to help me out.

Bob

Bob,

Another possibility is to put an ad in Aquaculture magazine (828) 254-7334 or Fish Farming News (207) 367-2490. I don't know what it would cost, but it may not be too much. Even if it is getting late in the season you might be able to make a contact for next year.

I once caught a 3 lb yellow bullhead (I know what they are as I have a fisheries degree) in a local lake, but it was the only one I ever caught. Going out and trying to ger more more would be hard to do.

Would you still be interested next year? I like challenges, and if I found a local lake that has plenty I could put them in a floating cage. The fish would be free, but shipping them alive would be the killer. If I had an extra pond the easiest thing would be to allow the females to spawn and net up the fry and ship them air.

I hope you have someone on this site that has a pond with yellows in it. Then they could scoop net the fry up and ship.

Oh John, I think most, if not all, of the pay lakes use channel catfish anyway as they are easier to find for stocking.

Good Luck Bob

Hey Bob another thought is go to http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/ponds and give a shot there. Also Mississippi Wildlife forums http://www.mdwfp.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=5 you never know. Bob

Yellow bullhead catfish.
Holy smokes. Most guys are trying to get rid of them.
I'll keep my eyes open for your request.
Mark McDonald
Editor, Pond Boss

Geez guys,
What's this "keep moving the cheese on me" all
about???

You're purportedly the best around and now you
are sending me a packing. I've got half a
mind to release all those gremlins you keep
corraled up.....

Dang, I paid $20 for the 2002 Aquaculture Magazine's Buyers guide. Called every bullhead
dealer listed. Then I called 30 some catfish
suppliers and another 10 leads from them....
Nobody but nobody has. Then I advertised
in fish section of a NW agriculture Mag
(Capital press under the fish section.....
4 weeks of ads and no nibbles), have over $150
in tel bills chasing down this species. The word gets out it will be listed on the ESA!

I will investigate advertising in each of
the 2 magazines you mentioned though. And I do
appreciate you pointing me to this new avenue.

(But shouldn't one expect more from the Pond
Boss "club") Inquiring minds beg to know.

MM,
I think your tense is wrong. Instead of future
progressive it should be past progressive---
"Most aquaculturist 'have' gotten rid of them."

By most standards, they, YB, equate to an undesirable FW species.....but for what I have in mind they are the perfect "niche fit"

I do appreciate your input. Due recognition
will be given to the resolute soul that
is first to put live YB at my doorstep.

Surely someone can provide me with what everybody
else in the industry considers a weed fish.
It's not as if I wanted a dozen snail darters.
(Although I'm beginning to think these are easier
to come by

BB

Bob,

I have found out from a state biologist friend that a local lake is loaded with them and they are surveying another lake on September 16th that also has yellow bullheads. He wanted to know if this was for research as in a university as they sometimes can supply fish for those purposes. However this is northern Indiana and he doesn't know you are in Washington state. Obviously you want these fish alive too right?

Bullhead Bob - What size do you want? Will young of year (YOY) or 1 yr olds be okay? Bcody

Cecil,
Sounds semi-promising. Will send you info
requested via personal E-mail.
Thanks a million.
Bob

Hey Buffalo Bill,
Don't tease me. I'll take whatever size you have!

Can you tell for sure, on the youngest ones, that
they have white/clear central chin barbels?
Definitely don't want to pay you for sending
brown bullhead out this way.....already have those.

Whichever size/age will have the best chances
of making the trip out this way are the ones
I want.

Can you really get me some?

PS By any chance are you related to my pony
express rider idol Buffalo Bill? Bill Cody
is not that common a name.

Morning Bullhead,

I'm sure Bill Cody will answer the call but I'll pass this along. My copy of a NYS fish hatchery list shows a fella in western NY that sells "bullhead". I'll try to contact him today to see if he has what you are looking for. Other than the "white/clear central barbel" description, do you have the scientific name? If you can provide this, there should be no mix up.

Russ

The picture doesn't show the scientific name very well. "Ictalurus natalis" is what my book says.

John

Buffalo Bill,
Don't tease me. You really have some YB?
Any size that you can get is good by me.

If you feel one size would ship better than
another, go with the least risky.

Can you speciate the very young? I don't want
to buy brown bullhead by some confusion on type
of fish.

PS You related to my legendary idol, Bill
Cody the Pony Express rider?

BB

Greetings Russ and John,
I think I'm making a mess of your otherwise
well organized Bulletin board. Things thought
sent don't appear, while other things appear
magically several times over.

My apologies to the entire fish school...Just
send me back with the fingerlings.

Thank you both for trying to get me closer
to the elusive YB quarry. Cecil was right. You guys on the PB really do rally to the cause. Had no idea that there would be so many coming out of their underwater haunts to help. It's a credit to
the aquaculture society.

The genus species (YB) is Ictalurus natalis
(I believe it is Latin for a "Big Behind"...
your web site rules don't allow a literal translation...smile)

Hey if it happens that two sources are found
simultaneously, I'll purchase from both; so
don't anyone that's pursuing YB give up chase!
Go after those bottom dwellers with gusto;

I have to go check my "crawdad" trapline...

Bullhead Bob

Bullhead,

I called two places today and struck out both times. No yellow bullheads were found, only brown. Sorry Bob.

Russ

Russ,
Don't give up with just two casts. I've been
fishing for 6 months now and still haven't netted a single YB.

Things were heating up at this site, and I began thinking there might be a chance Pond Boss would come through. But it doesn't look like it now.

I'm amazed that with all the talent evident at this site, along with the many contacts that these experts have in the aquaculture/fisheries
industry, that nobody can put me in contact
with a YB source.

I am really stymied.

BB

Bullhead Bob,

I would go with Bill Cody. He knows his stuff and is reliable. The biologist I contacted said he can't help you since you are a private institution.

I would think the bullhead would be easier to ship than most species as they are quite hardy. I've left bullheads out of the water for some time and had them revive.

Good luck,

Cecil

Bullhead Bob,

Yes, there are a lot of friendly folks on here. Maybe it's because there are a lot of southerners here who tend to be friendlier than some northerners. Or it could be that most folks on here are not actually in the aquaculture business and therefore not worried about competition.

It really burns me on the Aquaculture site that a lot of academics are monitoring the site but won't contribute. It's getting better but about a year ago there wouldn't be any activity more weeks on end. AES has a site but I stopped checking it as there is NO activity to speak of.