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#262369 06/20/11 08:27 AM
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I've got baby catfish?!!!!
Let me give you guys a little refresher on the history of my pond. Its a 1/2 acrea cattle pond thats about 50 years old. 12 feet at the deepest point. If i measured right, about 2' of muck on the bottom. And untill this year, has been completly covered in duckweed.

The first part of april this year, I put 25 cc fingerlings, 4 GC, 2 koi, 8 1# LMB in here. Since then, I have been putting as many adult CNBG as I can catch in there. Also bought 15 CNBG fingerlings that Ihave tank raised to release, after they were big enough to avoid preditors. I have been manualy removing as much DW as I can. To assist in muck breakdown and nutrient reduction, we started using an old irrigation pump to circulate the water. Now I have a home built aerator in place.

The DW is now on the decline. I havnt been able to get out and remove any in a couple of weeks, but i notice that its all but gone around the edges. I only have 1 big concentration left in a shallow end ( 4-5' at the deepest). This end is shaded by trees, and rceives all the run off from the wooded area behind it. It also has the most muck built up. I am also in the process of limeing the pond.

2 weeks ago, I started feeding the fish. My fincky mutt doesnt like the last dogfood I got him, so the fish are getting it. I plan on changing to fish food this week.

Ok to the point ( sorry for being so long winded).

Friday I went to feed the fish, and I noticed some little fish, about 1" long, Swimming around in a little hole in the shallows. I got a net and a bucket and snatched up a few. They are little baby catfish. Right now they are solid black. I know they arent from the 25 CC figerlings I put in, but I dont know what spiecies they are. I've got a few in my holding tank. I'm gonna grow em up a bit to see if I can identify them.

To me this is strange. As far as I know the pond never had any catfish in it. I've fished it since i was a small boy untill it the DW took over. And in 30 years Ive never heard of anyone catching a catfish out of it. Not to mention the fact that I didnt think anything of any size would have survived 15 years of DW covering the pond. And s far as I know, no spawning structure for cats.

I guess I really didnt hve a point to this post. I was just amazed that I got baby catfish.

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Take a good look at the tails of your new wiskered fish. If tails are rounded they are a specie of bullhead. If tails are obviously and deeply forked they are catfish. The forked tail feature on CC and blue catfish (BC) shows up when the young cats are only 15mm long (0.6"). BCP is the PBoss standard acronym for black crappie.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/20/11 08:53 AM.

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Bill Cody #262380 06/20/11 09:23 AM
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Thanks Bill.
I'll definantly look when I get home

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Bullheads easily spawn in ponds compared to CC. They also tolerate toilet water conditions. Based on where you are in the country they're most likely black or yellow bullheads.

CJBS2003 #262392 06/20/11 12:33 PM
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A couple of years back we were hanging around our pond when we noticed a black mass moving around the pond.

We first noticed it at a distance and had no idea what it was. As it moved along the shoreline and came close to us we realized that it was a school of small fish.

Turned out it was Bullhead young swimming in a massive ball.

Here's the photo I took of it.



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thats a awesome pic of the catfish in the massive ball
Originally Posted By: jeffhasapond
A couple of years back we were hanging around our pond when we noticed a black mass moving around the pond.

We first noticed it at a distance and had no idea what it was. As it moved along the shoreline and came close to us we realized that it was a school of small fish.

Turned out it was Bullhead young swimming in a massive ball.

Here's the photo I took of it.



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Ok my main goals are a bass/bluegill pond. Really going for some nice eatin size bluegill. The CC I put in was just because I wanted to get a mess of catfish every once in a while. should these little guys turn out to be bullheads, should I fish them out? are they pernicous in any way? Are they even eatable?
Thanks Denny

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If you can keep bullheads from becoming overpopulated they will grow to cleanable size in 2-3 yrs especially if fed fish pellets; without pellets 3-5yrs. Cleanable size IMO for bullhead is 10". I grew them in NW OH to 11"-12" in 3 yrs starting with 3"-4" fish.


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Bill Cody #262404 06/20/11 02:44 PM
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I would like to try to eat a bullhead that was fed pellets as all the others around here I have tried to eat tastes like the way the mud smells they swim in.

MRHELLO #262405 06/20/11 03:03 PM
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If there's any part of the meat that is a darker yellow than the surrounding tissue, cut it out. Also, try soaking the fillets, (or whole fish), in Sprite, or 7-up, overnight. It makes a big difference.


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
sprkplug #262407 06/20/11 03:50 PM
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Bullheads fed pellets taste quite good even from very warm murky water. I was suprised they did not have any type of off flavor. Meat from bullhead is similar texture as CC and often pinkish at least from yellow bullheads. There is quite a bit of meat on a 12" bullhead especially if you cut out the part just behind the bottom of the gills similar to catfish nuggets.

In a pond situation you may have to 'thin out' their numbers by trapping. They readily enter baited traps. Tuna, dead fish or fish pellets work as baits. If the pond has LMB they will eat a lot of the small 3/4"-2" bullheads.


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Bill Cody #262417 06/20/11 06:07 PM
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I think yellow bullheads are the better of the species followed by brown. Blackwould be the least desirable IMO. I prefer bullhead over CC for eating. Bullheads tend not to compete well with their bigger cousins. CC and especially flatheads and blue will eat them and simply push them out of prime habitat.

CJBS2003 #262463 06/21/11 07:15 AM
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Looked yesterday after I got home. the tail is blunt with rounded edges. They are solid black. I'm going to try fishing for some of the adults and see if I can determind what type of bullhead they are.

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Toss your bait right into the fry ball... The male is usually near by guarding and will readily take the bait. All 3 species tend to be black or dark brown when small.

CJBS2003 #263297 06/29/11 11:19 AM
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Did you ever try what CJBS2003 said?

MRHELLO #263358 06/30/11 01:02 AM
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The fry hsve ether moved on or been eaten. I caught 6 the other day usinmg dough bait. just casted in the middle of them feeding.

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The balls of fry eventually break up and they go their separate ways. Walk your pond edge with a spotlight after dark and shine it in the shallows. You most likely see the 2-3" fingerlings swimming around.

CJBS2003 #263390 06/30/11 09:37 AM
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Walk around a pond at night? That's crazy talk. There are creatures out there that want to eat you. Lions, tigers, bears, flying monkeys, carnivorous squirrels, salamander attack teams, vampire frogs. Jeez people are gonna get killed here.

Or perhaps that is just the city boy in me talking.

But I for one am not taking any chances.




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Originally Posted By: jeffhasapond
Walk around a pond at night? That's crazy talk. There are creatures out there that want to eat you. Lions, tigers, bears, flying monkeys, carnivorous squirrels, salamander attack teams, vampire frogs. Jeez people are gonna get killed here.

Or perhaps that is just the city boy in me talking.

But I for one am not taking any chances.



Jeff,
The next time you visit your inlaws, we need to spend a night of fising at Sunil's place. Todd can tell ghastly stories. Maybe Travis could join us and tell spine chilling police tales. We'll desensitze you to the point of complete fearlessness -- even of baby catfish..
Ken


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catmandoo #263419 06/30/11 08:42 PM
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as Ash said on "The Army of Darkness" This... is my boomstick! The twelve-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about a hundred and nine, ninety five. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You got that?

that helps with all the
creatures out there that want to eat you. Lions, tigers, bears, flying monkeys, carnivorous squirrels, salamander attack teams, vampire frogs( have to use wooden shot).

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It doesn't help that we have caught several Bob Cats on the game cameras. One guy is of pretty good size. My neighbor watched a Mountain Lion walk out of one of our black berry patches last fall. Another neighbor spotted a Black Bear cross our meadow a couple of years back.

Of course it's the two legged critters that worry me the most. The game cameras caught more trespassers on our place the last trip up.


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one of em looked like me......


GSF are people too!

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I certainly don't mind catching you on the game cameras DIED. Well except for the photos of you mooning the cameras. laugh


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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."
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Originally Posted By: jeffhasapond
I certainly don't mind catching you on the game cameras DIED. Well except for the photos of you mooning the cameras. laugh


I dare you to post one of those mooning photos of DIED!

I'd double dog dare you, but I don't have a photo of DIED!

Any triple dog darers out there?

cry cry cry

Quote:
Double Dog Dare

After a dare has been made and the daree has refused, the darer can then raise the stakes by double dog daring the daree, meaning that if the dare is carried out by the daree then the darer will also perform the task.

Triple dog dare is when a third person wants in on the dare. And so on.



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catmandoo #263685 07/03/11 11:41 AM
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What happens in El Dorado, stays in El Dorado.

And that's all I have to say about that.






I will however proffer this very realistic artistic rendering of the event.....
















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...Hedley Lamarr (that's Hedley not Hedy)
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