Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations photos of fish for ID

I didn't get great photos...but I think you can identify from them. Caught the LMB as a surprise. Didn't know the previous owner had stocked them.

I thought I was getting good at this. Let me try the LMB again.

Can you tell if that is a channel catfish?

looks like what we call "mud cats" I think also known as "Bullheads".

Can't tell in your pic too well, but it looks rather like a Channel to me in that most Muds (or Bulls) have a flat-end tail, where Channels have a "V" tail. Plus, the silvery color looks rather like a CC. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

I wish I could get a better look at the tail, but I think it is too rounded, too shallow a notch for a CC. Also, that body looks too "mature" (my current euphemism for having a large belly) for a CC that length. I think it's a Bullhead.

OTOH that's definitely a LMB.

I'm no expert by any means, but the lack of spots and flatness of tail tells me it's a bullhead. How is your water clarity? That can be responsible for the color.

The water is horrible. Like a stinky sewer hole if you ask me. I am working on clearing it.

The tail is forked more than the photograph shows. We couldn't keep it opened up. But it is a very definate V shape.

The mature body (fat belly) could be that we had just fed pellets????

If I can get a better picture of the tail I think it would clear this up once and for all.

Try laying it down on a white surface. That should give good contrast.

I'm betting it's a channel cat. The body appears long and thin compared to the short and stubby profile of black and yellow bullheads. I think the dorsal fin is much straighter than black, yellow or brown bullheads.

http://www.uaex.edu/wneal/Pond_Management/pages/fishid/fishid.html#Brown


Here is a page that might help.

I have a photo of the tail. Clearly not a cc. Although I maintain that caught one with a forked tail, and more on the grey side.

If someone would be so kind as to id the bream too? Thanks.

IMG]http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z316/puddlepond/DSC00618.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z316/puddlepond/DSC00619.jpg[/IMG]

dang it. trying again.

and the bream

Looks like you have a pond full of mudcats and green sunfish. I say it's time to rotenone and restock. Or enlarge and stock bluegill this fall, and bass in the spring.

I'd say the catfish definitely in't a yellow or brown bullhead but I'm not sure if it could be a black bullhead since I've never seen one first hand. A black bullhead has 15 to 21 anal fin rays. The bottom fish sure looks like a green sunfish.

wah, rotenone...sounds like a killing agent....you don't mean.............nah............kill em all?

enlarge.....as in the pond size? Now this my hubby does wants to do. Double the size of the headache,err, I mean pleasure of ponding. I am not worried, his middle name is procrastination.

I'm kidding of course... I want the pond bigger too. It will look nicer, more natural. I just wish he(hubby) would call in a professional for consultation on location and construction. This pond is in the worst location in my little ol opinion. The entire setup is bass ackwards. (I am a pro now that I have pond boss at my back)

Speaking of bass, my husband didn't like having those LMB in the pond. Go figure.

He sounds like a possible candidate for Cyanellus Research & Appreciation Project membership. Green Sunfish Pond

That is quite an entertaining thread. I read some good argument in favor of the "junk" fish.

They sure are a pretty fish. Or, more like a pond boss, "They're a good enough lookin fish."