Catfish ate carp

[Newt]

If you see anything looking like this fine lady being caught, you will know for sure they have gotten into your water and are doing well.

 

This one lives up in Canada where the lakes & rivers freeze over with at least 3 feet of ice each winter so UK temps should not be a problem.

 

They also do well where I live and the water surface temps can get to 32º for a good part of the summer. So I think adaptable is a pretty good description.

 

Both carp & pike anglers might wind up catching them too. Smaller ones love boilies and ones this size are very fond of cut bait.

 

[Peter Waller]

Ideal!

 

And they always say that a dog looks like its master! So with fish! Both have whiskers, both a bit grey! Both have beady eyes, maybe! Both a bit plump!

 

Nice picture by the way!

[Newt]

Thanks Peter.

 

But I got better whiskers and a bigger gut for sure. Maybe if I lived in a river with current I'd keep a more svelte figure?

 

Oh heck, I paid a lot for this belly and dang me if I intend to just give it away with a diet or something.

[HOPPY4]

Newt, that is a Great Fish and the possibility of getting Channels in the UK is a Dream of some anglers that I know. I am aware that the Wels Catfish was not an original fish of the region, but they are now a part of the UK species available.

[Newt]

Thanks Hoppy. Would you believe this was a 'typical' fish for that particular trip??

 

I went to Canada to fish the Red River near the Lockport dam with Jerry O'connor last summer. Had never met the guy in person but got to know him from the old carp.net forum and we'd been trying for 3-4 years to get vacation schedules that matched to make a trip.

 

I flew up and we fished the upper Mississippi River near him on Saturday - mostly to catch 'bait'. Bunch of nice suckers (forgot the exact species) of 3-4 lbs each. Took filets, ran the guts thru a blender, and froze them together. There are a couple of baits that work better up there (live frogs and cut bait from the goldeneye shiners in the Red) but we wanted a bait that didn't require fishing time to prepare and only if it hadn't worked would we have gone after frogs or the goldeneye.

 

The fishery up there is beyond fantastic. Catfish winter in Lake Winnipeg and head toward the dam in early spring. The tiddlers (to about 15 lbs ) climb a fish ladder in the dam to the lake above and the 15-25 lb fish stay below. Barbless hooks and catch/release so the population stays large and healthy.

 

This fish was around 20lbs so right in the middle since we caught from 15lbs to 26lbs and I think the worst day of the 5 days we fished was about a dozen of these beauties.

 

The fishing is the reason I never hesitate to recommend the spot for anyone wanting a super trip. Guides are cheap and costs are low. For instance, we camped in a city owned campground right next to the river. Tent but they had electric to the site and water close by. Total cost for Sunday thru Friday AM (when we packed up and left) was $78 CAD or £33 with free use of their launch ramp. Fishing permit for non-residents for a week was $7 CAD I think.

 

The best guess is that the real bigguns stay in the lake all year since it is very rare to catch one over 26 in this area. The guides who are on the water constantly will see an occasional 30 but very few.

 

I don't see any reason at all that with the proper water (most any of the larger rivers) the UK couldn't grow a nice population of fish this size and even the smaller lakes/ponds should be able to support decent numbers of fish to 8-10 lbs. Good way to get all those excess boilies used rather than having them sit on the bottom and rot.

 

[ 22. December 2003, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Ken L]

That's it !

I'm on a mission to buy up any baby pussies down the local pet shop so I can dump 'em in the severn......

 

 

Only joking

[catman195]

Channel Catfish are already in U.K. waters several stillwaters have them in and they have been caught in the River Trent in matches fished just upstream of Nottingham

[gaza]

look at the ccg site or join the club you will receive a listing of most of the real cats caught. http://www.catfishconservationgroup.co.uk/ it is only 11 squid mate you get to have some first hand info right to your door ask anybody who is a member.

 

 

ccg member

[Newt]

... a listing of most of the real cats caught ...

 

Dang Gaza - all the catfish I ever caught seemed to be pretty real. Truly they did.

[gaza]

when i say real i mean i aint seen no rubber ones yet

 

[ 28. December 2003, 08:39 PM: Message edited by: gaza ]