Catfish Only Pond

By Ian

  I remember a day in my childhood. I have always loved to fish, and I often brought home fish to eat. Fried catfish was very tasty, and I often brought home bullhead catfishes - those small catfishes that prowl the bottoms of numerous lakes, ponds, rivers, and creeks in Maryland. They seem to be the most common catfish here. I remember taking the fish in the evening, and cleaning and cooking them for dinner. Somehow, however, one of those little buggers managed to slip out of the shallow pen I kept them in, and the next morning, I saw a catfish on my wet garage floor (I had washed it out), half dead, but still alive. I was astonished, and put him in a rain barrel. Within a few hours, he was swimming around again.

  Anyone could tell you how hardy catfishes are. It sounds gross, but even after you chop off their heads, they still are squirming. Catfishes tolerate extremely low levels of oxygen, and would taken pollutants that would dispatch a dozen bluegill.  They eat virtually everything, and can take extreme overcrowding.

uncw.edu

   A while back, I was fishing this small pond behind an auto dealership. It was .4 acres at most, and I just so happened to pass it. After some casts, I figured that there were no bass in this pond, and switched to my ultralight spinning combo and worms. Just as my bobber hit the water, however, it sank. I set the hook, and found myself staring at a 4 inch bullhead. After another cast, I landed another bullhead, around the same size. That went on and on. It seemed like there were nothing but bullheads, weeds, insects, and tadpoles in this tiny pond.  It received pesticide runoff from the nearby lawns. The pond was shallow and without any tree cover, and I could only guess at how low the oxygen level stooped in the summer. A true testament to the hardiness of the catfish.

Tight lines,

Ian