Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Where did they come from

Mudcats, bullheads , whatever you want to call them, How do they just appear? No runoff into pond. Rotenone applied to slough that pond was built on. Started fishing for cats today. Caught several mudcats on bottom. I guess they could have survived the rotenone.
What are the drawbacks to having them? I will not put any back into pond after catching. Will they be a problem? I have bass, and bluegill as well as channel cats.
I guess I want to know what the consequences are having them present in my pond.

It's not uncommon for some rough fish to survive rotenone. They're just like weeds -- the plants you don't want are the hardiest.

DrD, there are several people that posted with the same problem this spring - including me.
They will compete for food with your other fish.
You can get info on their biology on many websites, such as here:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/catfish/

so I won't go into that.

You can make the biggest dent in their population when you first see the black schools of bullheads in the spring. At first they are dumb and they slowly move around the pond. If you have a small boat and seine, you can get most of them out (if you have relatively small pond). With time they get smarter and they move away or deeper, when you try to get close. Individuals start leaving the group about the same time. Bass will make a big dint, but I suspect that quite a few still make it. They do seem to be greedy and bite before my chanells and blues on worms on the bottom. I need to introduce LMB and give it a few years to see if they can keep them in check.

How do they just appear? Best guess that I have heard is that predatory water birds transmit the eggs on their feet and bodies.

A local catfish farmer told me that mudcats burrow in the mud in real shallow water. That explains how they escaped the rotenone. I don't buy the eggs on bird legs or feet. We caught one that weighed about a pound.
I stocked bass in late April that were 3-6". Will they be large enough now to take out these baby cats? I was thinking these were baby channels until we caught the mudcats yesterday. 3-6" channel cats stocked last Oct. wouldn't be able to spawn this spring, would they? We caught some channels up to 3/4 lb. Most were smaller, less than 1/2 lb.
Man I am not gonna let these mud-suckin bullheads ruin my pond. Been netting them, even shot some with my snake-killen .410. I'm gonna catch as many bigger ones and toss them out.
Any other ideas?

Also , if my bass are too small to help out with these baby mudcats, should I add a few larger bass to help out?

Mr. Bucketmouth is not a programable mudcat eating machine - he will eat everything he finds. So, if the rest of your pond is not ready for a freshwater version of a Great White shark, I'd hold on that and try lots of different things before putting the whammie on the whole system.

Similar thread 2 posts down. I agree with Nick Smith...read his post there. I guarantee you I can build a pond in Texas, and without introducing fish, catching only rainfall, and will end up with mosquitofish, green sunfish, and mudcats. Something is bringing/spreading them around. Without a doubt, it's herons, comorants and egrets. I've fed herons until they can't swallow another fish...you know what they do ? They cripple their prey, then take it off to a shallow bank where it watches it's catch thrash around in the muck, until it gets hungry again. Don't underestimate the birds, they're not rocket scientists, but they aren't stupid either. Try to shoot them, they have a brain. Maybe the birds prefer greensunfish and mudcats, and plant them

I believe the bird theory. Some fish eggs are adhesive. Ducks, gulls and other types of birds can get them in their feathers, not just on their feet. I have some white birds, that look like cowbirds, that fish for sunfish and occasionally I see them carrying them off in their beaks somewhere else, presumably to their nest.

ducks transport duckweed , thats where it gets its name. lol

I don't think the bullheads have taken over my pond, so to speak. However, I've become anti-bullhead.

Any bull head I catch get's relocated to the bank (and still proceeds to live for sometimes 24 hours or more, as others have commented in other threads). I'll probably do a few of those homemade traps as Dudley Landry has instructed.
And if the other fish are not biting, I'll go to "work" by putting some bait on the bottom and catching and culling bullheads. I don't really have any other type of catfish in my pond except for the ten 10" channels I put in a few months ago.

I do need to improve my "work" ethic though. I've only culled (13) bullheads so far (and 28 crappie). I don't expect to ever get 100% rid of the bullhead though.