Catfish feeding fun

jinman · Aug 14, 2003

I have several hundred spoiled catfish that weigh around 5-10 lb. When I drive to my lake, they hear my diesel truck or tractor and start jumping out of the water from excitement. My girlfriend took this photo immediately after I threw the first scoop of catfish food into the pond. It is always instant chaos until every pellet of food is gone. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif We always joke that we think the catfish are trained, but the catfish must think they have us trained. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

MReeter · Aug 14, 2003

Very nice Lake...watching Catfish eat is entertaining...they look like a bunch of Hogs rolling in the water /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

markie61 · Aug 14, 2003

How do they taste?
I would imagine a 5-10lb fish would feed a family of four...
Mark

Bird · Aug 14, 2003

And besides all the catfish, it just looks like a pretty place.

jinman · Aug 14, 2003

MReeter: I'm always amazed at how determined some of these fish are to get every single pellet of food. If I back off so they can't see me, they will crawl in the mud up to the edge of the water for a pellet, and then flop around to get back into the deep water where they can swim.

Mark: I've never actually eaten any of the big catfish. They are just fun to catch and then I normally turn them loose. The 2 to 3 pound fish are very good eating.

Bird: Thanks, I sure do love my little peaceful country place. It was so cool yesterday that I turned off the air conditioning and opened up all the windows. Then I sat out on my porch watching a swarm of hummingbirds drain my feeder. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

bgott · Aug 14, 2003

I got paid to clean the rotten bait out of a commercial fishing boat in Madera Beach, FL. a few years back. If I remember right there was around 500 pounds of it. I threw it over the side and there were so many catfish fighting for those sardines that they were seriously rocking that 50 some- odd foot boat. I would have enjoyed the show except the 'dines were really ripe and I had to dump them out of plastic sacks which really slowed the process.

gotrocks · Aug 15, 2003

This forum is great. I enjoy looking at titles and then checking just what the author has to say.

That is a beautiful lake and the "fish are jumpin" is the "cotton high" ?

I had a bass in my little 3/4A pond called him DB for short, it's name was "Domesticated Bass". Like your catfish it would hear us walking up and come to meet us just like chickens. Throw a cricket or grasshopper in and gulp it's gone. DB would follow us all the way around the pond just waiting for another cricket or grasshopper. I finally was able to hold the critter just above the water and DB would come right up under it within 6 inches or less and wait for me to drop it. Never could get it to eat out of my hand.

Sad day found DB floating with another bass (est 2 lbs) stuck in his mouth, could not swallow and fins kept from spitting out. To far gone to try and weigh but DB was 24 inches long. Buried beside one of my pear trees. Amen!

I've got bream and bass, can't deside to add catfish.

There, another fish tail tale. Told the kids and grandkids when one gets off your hook, don't say it got away.... it's still right there in the backyard pond.

Bird · Aug 15, 2003

( found DB floating with another bass (est 2 lbs) stuck in his mouth, could not swallow and fins kept from spitting out )

I would never have expected a fish to try to swallow something it couldn't get down or back out if I hadn't seen it, about 25 years ago. My dad, my brothers, and I were crappie fishing from my boat in Lake Whitney and noticed a fish swimming slowly on the surface and we couldn't figure out why, so I maneuvered over by it with the trolling motor and one of my brothers dipped it up with the dip net. It was a largemouth bass, only 12 to 14" long, but nearly dead and had a bream stuck in its mouth. We removed the bream, also nearly dead, and put both of them in the live well, not expecting either of them to live. However, after an hour or so both fish appeared to have fully recovered and we released them both.

Docsknotinn · Aug 16, 2003

LOL, I guess his eyes were bigger than his stomach, Maybe he was a confused small mouth who wanted to be a Big Mouth Bass. lol The things ya see in life. Its always a good day when you get in a good laugh and a fishing story. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

jinman · Aug 16, 2003

"That is a beautiful lake andthe fish are jumpin is the cotton high?" 

Norris, that lake is actually about 20 acres and is a soil conservation lake built in 1941. There are four property owners who own all the land around the lake and the county maintains the dam. I have the two ponds they used as fish breeding ponds while the lake was built. You can see a Pond King floating dock in the background which belongs to my neighbor. I'm attaching a better picture of the lake that I took from an airplane. The pond in the background and the peninsula are mine. I have an all-weather gravel road along the top of the pond dams so I can drive right down to the lakefront. This picture was taken several years ago. I now have a new house in the upper right area. ...time for some new photos. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif