Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Started feeding with my ring again

I repaired the feeding ring I made from PVC yesterday. I have only been feeding for a few days. I am dishearted. All I see are big bullhead catfish. And most of them are fat with a belly full of eggs! Maybe my channel cats are slow to come eat the feed. I stocked channel cats, but not bullhead. I can eat a big bullhead too. I am just disappointed they seen to be taking over. That and tiny bass!

Catch them using either pellets or dough bait.

Bullhead numbers can be greatly reduced by learning to use a cast net.

The YoY swim around the banks in tight schools. When you see the big black ball, toss a net on it.
You can get rid of the adults the same way. When they come to pellets, toss a net on em. They
wise up to that trick pretty fast, so it's only going to work a few times a year.

JohnyMax, you mentioned the BH are big ... so that means that you are not overrun with them. Catch and eat them and ensure that the LMB are sufficient to keep up with them and they should not become a big problem. If you harvest them and maintain a strong predator population, you may later miss them if they are extirpated ... but that remains to be determined.

How big do bullheads get? I have a mess of them about 12” long and usually toss them out for the coons to eat. Never ate any.... my channel and blue cats have never come to feeder just BG

It depends greatly on which species of bullhead. Here in NC, we have a lot of yellow bullheads. A 1-pounder is a good one, a 2-pounder is a great one, but most are smaller than that. I agree with jpsdad, since he has large bullheads, that's a good sign that he's not overrun with them.

Also, they taste pretty close to a channel cat in my opinion, if you avoid the dark meat.

I have caught bullheads and thought they were my channel cats before. They were a little broader than the channel cats. Then I notices the lack of spots as I skinned them.
I have not fed them in two years and it used to boil with channel cats.
Yesterday I did notice a couple of big bright flashes a foot or so below the surface..
Not sure if it was catfish or a bass.
I will be out there again today and see, maybe they will come to the top.

I know bullheads bite harder than a channel three times it’s size( on your finger)

Their tail is square and channels are V shaped

I looked on eBay to see what Bullhead Catfish are selling for. They sell for $25 plus shipping.
I told the wife, we should catch them and kill two birds with one stone.
Make a few extra bucks and lower bullhead population, LOL

The time to collect them is "right about now". You should start seeing little schools of the young here shortly.

The largest BH I ever caught was a Yellow BH around 14" but BH can get considerably larger than that. Even so, it isn't common. Water that produces 12" BH is good water where population balance is good. For me the best BH for eating are in the 8" to 10" lengths. My grandfather had a pond with blacks but the upper limit of his was 10". He kept any BH 6" or longer and they were very good to eat rolled in cornmeal and fried in bacon fat with farm fresh eggs for breakfast. Great memories.

This is how he cleaned them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RjEUSkdks4

WOW! I have gotta try cleaning them like the video showed.
Thanks
I learned something today!
Shuckin' Catfish!

That's got to be what they are TRYING to sell them for. Maybe I'm missing something, $25 for one or a bunch, large enough for eating or for stocking?

There are good to eat, but at $25 each...I'll eat steak...LOL.

Sold alive for aquariums. Monster fish keepers love them.
www.ebay.com/bullhead-catfish