Catfish?

[Dee Bouey]

Hi, everybody I fish a lake in florida that is about 15 acres long and 4 acres wide. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on how i could catch a catfish or if there is even any in there. Ever since ive been fishing i,ve heard that there has been only one caught out of there but i have never seen one. I just want to know what is the best thing to use to find if there is any catfish and where to fish because the lake goes up to 17ft deep?

[Teal]

Easiest way to survey this lake to see if catfish are there. Simple. But before you take my advice please look into your states wildlife regulations and see if you can do this.

Jug fish it with crappy minnows or any kind of dead bait fish or cut bait ( in NC we cannot use live bait on jugs and we cannot use more than 40 per person). There are all sorts of high dollar "jugs" made with pvc and all that. But for this experiemnt get as many two liter bottles,milk jugs, or any type of plastic container with a lid. Tie on some masons line, heavy braid, or just 20# mono. Tie on a circle hook and put on your bait.

Use a boat to spread jugs. Use boat to get to and retrieve jugs once you see a fish on the line. This is probably the most thorogh and effectice way i can think of to survey this pond.

Remember to check into your states wildlife regulations before you do this and make sure that it is legal in your state. All of my personal bests in catfish have come from this method.

[Bluebasser86]

What kind of catfish are supposed to be in there? If they're flatheads livebait will be the only way to go but don't expect to get them very fast. Flatheads are mainly nocturnal and in a pond environment they usually don't have to move much to eat so if your bait isn't right in front of them they probably aren't going to find it. 

If it's channels, blues, or bullheads I'd opt for fresh cut bait. Shad or some other kind of oily baitfish is best but bluegills or shiners work also. For channels and bullheads prepared stink baits, chicken livers, crawdads, nightcrawlers, grasshoppers, and a variety of other baits will catch them. Winter time is a tough time to catch catfish. Blues and channels will remain fairly active but flatheads go almost dormant. They can still be caught but you'll be best off waiting until warmer weather to try to catch them. 

Fish those baits on a slip sinker rig on flats, near any creeks that run into the pond, or coves. 

[Hyrule Bass]

go there at night or set up when the a little before sunset. use night crawlers or chicken livers, youll find if the cats are in there or not. this time of year up here, seems cutbait works best in colder water though, dont know about in florida. if those baits wont catch you some channel cats or bullhead then its time to try catfishing in other waters...

[Leviathan]

Can anyone tell me what kind of catfish this is? They've been eating my plastic worms and becoming a pain, and do they have stingers like channel cats? They're pectorals seem barbed but I'm not sure. I'd like to fish for a 20lb one off the bottom, only if they're worth the catch

[wademaster1]

Can anyone tell me what kind of catfish this is? They've been eating my plastic worms and becoming a pain, and do they have stingers like channel cats? They're pectorals seem barbed but I'm not sure. I'd like to fish for a 20lb one off the bottom, only if they're worth the catch

 

maybe a white cat?

[0119]

Black or Brown Bullhead.

 

Dee whereabouts in Fl. are you?  Down here we only have channels and whites.

[Bluebasser86]

Can anyone tell me what kind of catfish this is? They've been eating my plastic worms and becoming a pain, and do they have stingers like channel cats? They're pectorals seem barbed but I'm not sure. I'd like to fish for a 20lb one off the bottom, only if they're worth the catch

Looks like a brown bullhead, they usually have that mottled color. If you could see the tail in the picture it would be easier to tell. Bullheads have a rounded tail like a flathead and whites have a forked tail like a blue or channel. If by stingers you mean poison glads at the base of their pectoral fins then yes. If you get cut or stabbed by their pectoral fins it's going to burn and hurt real bad and maybe even make you dizzy and sick to your stomach. Their whiskers, like with all catfish, are harmless though. They don't get very large, a 4 or 5 pound fish is a monster for a bullhead. 

[wademaster1]

Leviathan, do some searches online and see what you come up with, let us know what you think it is

[Dee Bouey]

Black or Brown Bullhead.

 

Dee whereabouts in Fl. are you?  Down here we only have channels and whites.

I live in Seminole County

[Leviathan]

Looks like a brown bullhead, they usually have that mottled color. If you could see the tail in the picture it would be easier to tell. Bullheads have a rounded tail like a flathead and whites have a forked tail like a blue or channel. If by stingers you mean poison glads at the base of their pectoral fins then yes. If you get cut or stabbed by their pectoral fins it's going to burn and hurt real bad and maybe even make you dizzy and sick to your stomach. Their whiskers, like with all catfish, are harmless though. They don't get very large, a 4 or 5 pound fish is a monster for a bullhead. 

Thanks I thought it was a bullhead of some sort, the tail is rounded, the image was minimized when it was uploaded. Thanks for lettin me know