# Help: Freshwater Trash Catfish???



## Ckill

I am confused and cant seem to find any information about this. Growing up when fishing stock tanks we sometimes would catch small 8-10" catfish that we called 'mud cats'. Now I realize that is also slang for yellow cats but I am referencing a different fish(I think). These catfish would take over a pond and you could never really get rid of them. They also were not eatable. They look a lot like a hard head with a pot belly and all. 
So I can't seem to find any info about what kind of catfish this really is. I fear that we have lots of these mixed in a tank we just stocked even though it was almost dry after the drought. Thanks for any help.


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## RATLTRAP

You are probably thinking of a Bullhead. I believe they are also called mudcats!


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## olsteve

Ratltrap is right. There are two. The yellow bullhead and the brown bullhead.


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## Sunbeam

olsteve said:


> Ratltrap is right. There are two. The yellow bullhead and the brown bullhead.


The bullheads taken out of ponds and small lakes tend to have a musky or mossy taste. (so do some channel cat)
But farther north in cooler streams and lakes they are considered table fare.
More red meat on their sides than most catfish but still edible.
They are a fierce predictor with a large mouth and good speed. 
You are right about them taking over a small pond.
In my 6 acre lake I have a limited population but the huge blue cats seem to keep them in check.
BBjim said they caught 3 to 4 pound bullheads in western Kentucky. A 3 pound anything would be fun to catch.


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## obiewan57

Those small mud cats are not called Yellow cats, maybe yellow mud cat, but yellow cats will eat the heck out of those little mud cats.

Get someone to give you a live yellow cat, even if it weighs very little, when it grows it will eat those mud cats, a couple can eat a lot of mud cats.

I knew another guy that dug a 3 foot wide canal off his lake, about 20-30 foot long. About 2-3 foot deep, then he built a sliding gate at the mouth of the canal. He would feed the mud cats up into that canal, slide the gate shut, then with a dip net that was as wide as his canal, he would dip out the mud cats to cut into their population...you can remove a lot of unwanted fish from a small pond doing this.
Just depends on how much you want to do to get rid of them.


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## parttime

Everyone covered it well. I remember when I was younger and living in Michigan, we would catch and eat them, I thought they tasted good but like mentioned above, they were out of big cold water (Heron).


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## shadslinger

Just curious, after the bullhead talk, has anyone here caught a madtom?


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## Sunbeam

shadslinger said:


> Just curious, after the bullhead talk, has anyone here caught a madtom?


No, but I caught his wife Hagfish. One slimy creature.


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## Fishin' Soldier

Sunbeam said:


> No, but I caught his wife Hagfish. One slimy creature.


Did you release her? You might not wanna cross this Madtom guy if you didn't. Just sayin...


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## Ckill

Yall nailed it that's the fish. One tank is so taken over with them and carp we will probably kill of the entire thing. The other since we just stocked it? Not sure, I like the canal idea though. Thanks for all the advice.


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## waterspout

not sure, but I catch these out of a little bitty pond in Dayton.. they need some cat food and a feeder set up on the pond to fatten them up.:bounce:


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## saltyfeet

*mud cats*

grandparents called 'em polly wog's, years ago i went on a farm pond management tour with tx p&w. they told us these fish do not survive well in clear water esp. with a hard bottom. the answer at that time was to lime the run-off above the pond, or use a lime injection system to clarify the water and harden the bottom of the pond. the agent swore if this was done properly there was no ill effect on other fish and the mud cats would disappear soon after. he also said they were a nusaince fish because of their voracious appetite, and that removeing them helps more desirable feeder fish like perch to produce better.


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## ron

pollywogs is what i heard them called, used to catch them out of a friends pond and put them in my crabtraps. blue crabs taste a lot better than polywogs. and they sure liked to eat them polys


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## shadslinger

Fishin' Soldier said:


> Did you release her? You might not wanna cross this Madtom guy if you didn't. Just sayin...


LOL! Yeah, he has anger issues!


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## Jeff G

Waterspot those look like little channel catfish to me . We have some ponds out here in Kingwood that you can bring your kids and catch those mudcats as fast as you can with liver under a cork . I little chumming before hand really attracts them .


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## Ckill

waterspout said:


> not sure, but I catch these out of a little bitty pond in Dayton.. they need some cat food and a feeder set up on the pond to fatten them up.:bounce:


I don't think those are the same fish as what I am talking about. They don't get near that big. Like john said bet they are a channels or something.


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## lost-in-salt

I have very good success catching bullheads from farm ponds popping a white chatterbait up and down off of the bottom as I reel it in. They knock the mess out of it when they hit it. It is fun and I can get rid of them without messing with any nasty bait. Teach a kid to catch them this way and they can have hours of fun.


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## Boboe

Here's a good bullhead picture for y'all!

I didn't take it, but I like it 


__
https://flic.kr/p/195089226


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## olsteve

Ckill, educate me... What is a stock tank? A small pond or something different?


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## olsteve

I thought this was interesting. The world record for a Yellow Bullhead is 4 pounds 15 ounces. It was caught here in Georgia.
Georgia also holds the World Record for 6 other fish:
Largemouth Bass 22 lb 4 oz ( Tied by one in Japan)
Shoal Bass 8 lb 3 oz
Suwanee Bass 3 lb 9 oz
Chain Pickerel ( Jack) 9 lb 6 oz
Redfin Pickerel ( Redfin Pike) 2 lb 10 oz
and Flier Sunfish 1 lb 6 oz
It's amazing how much knowledge you can acquire when you forget to take the newspaper to the bathroom and find the Georgia sport fishing regulations on the toilet tank.
So Sunbeam, when are you going to break some of these records?
Also, I still don't know what a "stock tank" is?


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## Sunbeam

Olsteve, what is the Georgia record for perch?

Stock tank is a West Texas term. It is a dam built on a dry creek or gully that catches water during heavy rain. It is used to provide water for live "stock." Lots have a windmill that pumps water into a low surface holding tank or directly into the pond it's self.
Most end up with bull heads and or perch in them from wading birds transporting fish eggs on their feet.


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## olsteve

Black Crappie 4 lb 4 oz
White Crappie 5 lb
Bluegill 3 lb 5 oz
Redear Sunfish (shellcracker) 4 lb 2 oz
Redbreast 1 lb 11 oz
Also, I enclosed a pic of a typical bait sized White Perch. The catfish really like them. LOL


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## rambunctious

*Mud cats*

We always called yellow cat [mud cats] slimmey as hell and not worth a **** to eat. Correct me if wrong.
Terry


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