Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations RW for "trash fish"

Hey All,

For now my pond has BH and GSH and I've got a question, can the principles of releasing only "overachieving fish" (high RW) be applied to fish like BH or GSH? Anyone else doing this? I caught this nice BH last night, 1.323 lbs and am wondering if it should be released or kept (it's in a fish basket now).

I'd like to have quality fishing until I can get my pond turned around, should I keep everything I catch or try to manage the fishery by selective release?

Thanks!

eat it

Mark,

It is going to depend on your goals.

Evaluate each fish on its merits. Does it help your goals or not. If it does, use it wisely. If it does not, ring the dinner bell.

I would eat every "keeper" size caught. The more you remove by hook or predator, the bigger the guys left will get. As for me, if I catch a "keeper" he goes under the fillet knife. Good eating in my book but I am just an old Indiana farm boy at heart! BTW there are fish farms that sell BH for stocking so there are folks that do enjoy having them.

Thanks for your input guys. I agree, I want to increase the average size of my catches and I want to eat fish, so it'll be the fry pan for this one. I grew up fishing for BH with my grandpa who loved to eat them. While they might not be the most desirable, fishing for them has a special place in my heart.

BH are a severely undervalued fish IMHO...can be excellent table fare and a decent forage base as well under the right conditions.

I wish I had some.

Your title suggested you were looking for relative weights for trash fish so I figured I would throw together a spreadsheet for you or anyone else interested. Didn't know what species of BH you had so included them all. Input length (inches) and weight (lbs) into the respective column and should spit out the results. If anyone can tell me what the general max length of each can be I can throw together a sheet that lists relative weight for each length if interested. Hope it helps, take care.

Trash Fish Relative Weight Calculations Spreadsheet

**Note: Left the spreadsheet open so if you add numbers it will save. If you click on File -> Download as you should be able to save it off.**

Reference
Relative Weight (Wr) Status and Current Use in Fisheries Assessment and Management (2000)
Authors: Brian G. Blackwell, Michael L. Brown, and David W. Willis

Equations and Inputs
Intercept (a) and slope(b) parameters for standard weight (Ws) equation log10(Ws) = a + b(log10total length).
Relative Weight = Measured Weight/Standard Weight

Black Bullhead min length ~5" (130mm)
=10^(-3.297+3.085*LOG10(A3))

Brown Bullhead min length ~5" (130mm)
=10^(-3.371+3.105*LOG10(A3))

Yellow Bullhead min length ~2.25" (60mm)
=10^(-3.491+3.232*LOG10(A3))

Golden Shiner min length ~2" (50mm)
=10^(-3.611+3.302*LOG10(A3))

Common Carp min length 7.75" (200mm)
=10^(-3.194+2.920*LOG10(A3))


Ben

I don't consider bullheads to be trash fish. They are fine eating, and under the right conditions can grow to 2 or 3 lb. There was a time when I was a kid, living on a great BH lake, that we ate BH several times a week, and I loved them - never tired of them.

When I was a kid, the lake never had catfish in it, and I assumed the bullheads WERE catfish! 2-3 pounds is correct.

I can't answer your question but if you decide to remove certain size fish my BH would readily go into fish traps baited with fish food.

Minnow traps will trap lots of small ones and regular fish traps the larger sizes. One problem with the larger traps is the small fish like to go in and eat all the bait food then leave. Cut up trash fish will work for bait in the larger traps, but the BH REALLY prefer fish food and will go in a lot better for it. So putting the food in a tight mesh of some sort will stop some of the small fish cleaning it out.

Just some ideas for population management.