What happened to my catfish?

[bhostasa]

I was hanging out by the pond yesterday evening and saw something moving around very slowly on top of the water. It finally got close enough for me to see and I realized it was a pretty big (18-24" long) blue catfish.

I don't know what happened to it. It looks like something was eating it and it got away...maybe a coon or something? As of this morning, it's dead on top of the water.

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures I took with my phone yesterday. Anybody ever seen anything like this before?

 

[NSBound]

I think you're right, something grabbed him while he was at the surface! You'll have to teach your fish to stay submerged!

 

[MMagis]

My guess would be a blue heron.

 

[rmasonjr]

I've seen turtles do the same thing here in mississippi

 

[ToadHill]

Looks like them gators have migrated north! ha ha

 

[MW66]

My guess is a blue heron as well. They are relentless.

 

[frankc]

SNAPPING TURTLE! They will clean out the pond if left alone.

 

[brin]

SNAPPING TURTLE! They will clean out the pond if left alone.

We put a turtle trap in our pond with bait and caught a total of eight huge snapping turtles over the summer...We made turtle stew..They are a bear to clean. The traps are not that expensive and it is easy to do and will save your fish.

 

[MMagis]

Snapping turtles are in every pond, and they aren't that big of deal. They certainly won't clean out a pond. They eat mostly smaller fish and frogs, and most often a turtle wound would be on the bottom of the fish, not the top.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Yes, I had snapper eat with my catfish last year - never bothered them.

 

[brin]

Well I am here to tell you that the turtles eat....if they don't eat your fish then they eat what your fish eat thereby depriving them of food they need. I have Large mouth Bass and they eat smaller fish and frogs so I want them to eat that and not the turtles. I have run a trot line and believe me snapping turtles can lean the fish off in a nano second...they do eat fish.

 

[MMagis]

No one said they don't eat fish. I said they won't "clean out a pond".

 

[MossRoad]

I vote for Blue Heron wounded it.

 

[jinman]

I have blue herons and a catfish with a chunk missing on his back. I named him Divot. His wound healed and he continues to survive, but I continue to lose fish from the pond every year. I think its the heron rather than turtles on the bigger fish that aren't caught and just "beggin'" to be taken. I do know that raccoons will clean a stringer if you give them the opportunity.

 

[scesnick]

I am gonna say raccoon. they are slick little S.O.B's.

 

[Dargo]

I vote for Blue Heron wounded it.

That would be my guess as well. I've seen Blue Heron and their tracks at my lake quite often. It's too bad that the "Great Blue Heron" are protected where I live. Although they generally eat small fish and frogs, the suckers will eat darn near anything. I've seen them spear one of my catfish way too large for it to eat. It jabbed it several times before the catfish got away or the danged Heron gave up.

Just for laughs, here is what the Blue Heron thinks of snapping turtles. The picture is from Wikipedia. Like I said, they'll eat about anything they can catch.

 

[catfishdaddyengineering]

And this is what frogs think of herons:

 

[Dargo]

And this is what frogs think of herons:

I've seen that before and still think it's cute!

 

[bhostasa]

It definitely could have been a blue heron. We usually have one or two stop by every week until the dogs run him off.

Raccoon...maybe. My wife said she thought she saw one out by the pond a week or so ago. I know they catch and eat frogs and small fish but I think that catfish was a little big to go after.

Snapping turtle - I caught one out of the pond a couple of years ago but haven't seen one since. I'll be keeping a look out for one though. Every once in a while I'll catch a large mouth out of the pond with a big "hook mouth" dent in the side of him where a turtle got him.

I kind of think a blue heron jabbed the catfish a few times and maybe some of the smaller fish in the pond made the wound worse over time.

 

[bhostasa]

That would be my guess as well. I've seen Blue Heron and their tracks at my lake quite often. It's too bad that the "Great Blue Heron" are protected where I live. Although they generally eat small fish and frogs, the suckers will eat darn near anything. I've seen them spear one of my catfish way too large for it to eat. It jabbed it several times before the catfish got away or the danged Heron gave up.

Just for laughs, here is what the Blue Heron thinks of snapping turtles. The picture is from Wikipedia. Like I said, they'll eat about anything they can catch.

That's an awesome picture