Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations My catfish spawned - picture

I shot 10 of them yesterday. It felt good.

Dudley,

if you have a picture of the trash cans, I would be glad to post the picture here. You can e-mail it to me. I changed my e-mail address to one that I actually check every day.

My culling count for black bullheads is at (11).

Lots of work to be done on that front.

I believe these bull heads will find their way into any structure or box with a hole or holes in it. I had an old bird house that was sunk in my pond in about 2' of water. I saw a nasty bullhead writhing it's way out of the hole in the box. The hole was way smaller in diameter than the bullhead.

If you had something like that sunk w/ a floating marker, I think you could catch a lot of bullheads just by quickly pulling the box into the boat.

I don't have a picture but we used regular garbage cans that were about 30 gallons. A smaller can would probably have worked as well and would have been easier to handle. We cut a six-inch hole offset to near the edge of the lid, then put the lid on the can and drilled 1/4 inch holes through the lip of the lid and the top rim of the can. We bent pieces of wire into a "U" shape and inserted those through the small holes (from the inside - the six inch hole in the lid allowed access) around the perimeter then twisted the protruding ends. Drill only two small holes and secure with wire then drill the next two and secure those, etc. If you drill all the holes initially, you'll never get them to align properly.

Dudley, could you explain a little more about what you meant by the cans barely floating?

Are you saying to not let this trap sink to the bottom?

Thanks.

My culling efforts are nearing 250 in seven days. I have taken a few days off but will be back at it soon. The traps have not arrived yet. I ordered them from aquatic eco-systems inc. They have tons of different fish traps. I couldn't find them anywhere else. I will let everyone know how they work. They are nylon net traps and the biggest ones they had were $41 each. They also sell steel traps but this is what they recomended for catfish. I ordered 2 and should have them in use by the weekend.

Sunil, when the garbage cans we used were put in the water, they floated horizontally but only about 1% or less was at the surface. For example, an iceberg floats but most of it is under water.
We didn't sink our cans because when the can is at the surface, it can be uprighted quickly before the bullhead swims away. If on the bottom, I suspect the fish would swim off before the container reached the surface.

Thanks Dudley.

So of course, the next question...

What depth of water were you placing the cans in?

Thanks again.
Sunil

Five feet to twenty feet, Sunil.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bullheads. In a few years, when your blue cats get big enough, they'll eat the heck out the bulls, who are pretty slow. The ones that survive that will get big enough to actually eat...babies are too slow and become chum. You'll never get them all out, and even if you drain the pond, you need to let it dry COMPLETELY for a few weeks, because bullheads can survive for many days just buried in damp mud...they're tough.

Around here, no one wants them in a pond, but them 3-6" fish are exactly what the doctor ordered for bait for large cats. Let some kids (supervised) in to have a bullhead contest. Give 'em canepoles and 10 cents for each caught or just give em pop and have a weenie roast. You can keep them thinned that way, but won't get 'em all...just live with 'em.

'Sides, big 'uns are still fun to catch and look surprisingly good surrounded by hot oil.

[img]http://images.snapfish.com/33%3A%3B339523232%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D847%3D556%3DXROQDF%3E232356695%3A539ot1lsi[/img]

I have close to 300 removed from the 2/3 acre pond so far and the water is clearing up nicely. I am catching a few in traps but most of my success is from fishing on the bottom with worms. It helps a lot to invite some friends over. This is very time consuming but it is working so I have to stick with it.

I finally got to visit my property after about 2 months. I was never able to get the right size LMB to help with the problem, so the catfish stayed. I fished with dough balls and worms. Every cast - black bullhead. At first I was going to just kill them, but some were over 12" and nice and fat, so I put them in an ice box and we are going to fry them tonite.

I also got 2 channel catfish that were noticebly skinny. The bullheads must be really aggressive, because the feeder goes off 4x day. I am taking at least 3 kids out there next weekend to continue culling. At least they are easy to catch.

Ed, I think you are "feeding" the problem. I would cut off food, and not harvest anything except the problem cats, and fish often. If possible, toss in some mighty predators. A combination of large bass, large bgill, and large channels, blues, or even a couple flatheads won't hurt. You can always bait a trot line with live perch down the road to remove the large cats. It beats starting over and killing everything out. They will try to spawn again late April 05, you MUST eliminate the next generation, or you're back to step 1. A Monster cat is lethal, he'll occupy the same areas as the mudcats, eat them first. I saw 2-3 flatheads (8-12 lbs each) and 25 or so blues/channels around 4 lb. wipe out bullheads in a 2 acre pond in 6-9 months. Both bass and bgill rebounded nicely, but all fish were somewhat skinny during the process.

Eastland,

thanks for sharing your experience.

I kind of feel bad about just turning off the feeder and letting my good fish starve. But they look like they are starving anyway, so I guess I will do it.

I was told that nothing eats the bullheads once their fin spikes harden (2"). Ever for me, catching them was blood for blood proposition. There must be somethin in their blood that keeps the blood from coagulating for a while. But, LMB are definitely going in.

The bullheads tasted kind of muddy, but had same or better meat texture than c-cats. I will have to let them soak in milk next time. We also ate the one green sunfish. It was much better than any catfish I ever ate, so I decided not to replenish my cats when I harvest them. I will never be able to get them all, so I will still have some if I want them. Open season on bullheads this weekend!

I have just pulled the 350th bullhead out of my 2/3 acre wisconsin pond this summer. You should count your blessings you have something that will eat them. Nothing will eat the bigger ones up here. We tend to have more forage than the bass will eat.

What about cast netting them when they feed? You'd probably want to wear gloves because of the fins. But you might net and stress out some desirable species. What about a trotline with small hooks and worm pieces? Down here we call 'em mudcats, bullheads,chugheads. There is a species called mudtoms but I don't think they get bigger than 3-4 inches.

No kidding? A bullhead is safe after 2 to 4 inches?

Does anyone know how big the Bullhead catfish eggs are? I am getting ready to construct some trashcan traps, and I want to make sure that the drain holes I drill at the bottom do not allow the eggs to come out when I pick them up.

Thanks in advance.

Ed -- according to the Freshwater Fishes of Canada, black bullhead eggs are about 3 mm in diameter (just under 1/8 inch). However, they are spawned in a gelatinous mass, so I don't know if a single egg could break loose, or not.

In all my years, on all those ponds, lakes, streams, and reservoirs, in all those states, I've NEVER looked at a bullhead egg mass! I wonder why that is? I've seen millions of them after they hatch and swim around in that tightly packed school. Could it be because they are so good looking? Could it be because the water is often muddy, and I've never really seen a nest? Interesting!

Dave

Ed:

Build a bullhead trap out of 1/4" or 1/2" hardware cloth (galvanized wire screen). Box type works well and will catch the heck out of them bullheads if baited with liver.

Wrap liver in cheese cloth and suspend in the middle of the trap. Once the water reaches the mid 60's next spring, you won't be able to keep 'em out of it. Make the gap in the trap to fit the size of bulls you're catching.

Better yet, get some catfishermen to catch 'em for you as they make the best bankline/throwline/ditty pole bait known to man.

Here's one version of the trap I use, but I make my own. You can make 'em straight, single chamber easier.



Oh yeah, try soaking them bullhead (or any fish, for that mater) fillets in a little Real Lemon juice for 10-15 minutes prior to frying. Takes that "mossy" taste right out. Doesn't take too much. If you submerge them in a strong enough solution, it pickles them.

Crappies would wipe out your bullhead problem in a few years, but then you would have a crappie problem.

I think the best answer is to stock one or two large blue cats and wait for them to do their work.

I wonder if the blue cats you stocked were really bullheads. Just a guess, but possible.

It is also possible that the upper ponds have an in-check population of bullheads.

Eventually, big bass will wipe out the bullheads if you let nature take its course.

That's my 2 cents

If you can get your hands on a fyke net. The long lead directs fish, especialy bottom dwelling fish, into the catch box. They don't even need bait. I caught over 80 a night per net from a 1 acre pond. In two nights with 3 traps I removed over 300 black bullheads from a pond. Larger ones catch more fish.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I haven't been to this board for several months. Water is slowly warming up, it will soon be time to stock Tilapia and get after the bullheads again. I love spring.

Ed, what kind of price do you expect to pay for Tilapia this Spring ? When do you plan on stocking them ?