Other than humans,

What predators do catfish have in texas waters? Birds MAY be able to eat them if they pick them to death to miss the fins...

Gar MAYBE, but I doubt they would eat a lot of them..

Gators, but there aren't a whole lot around.

And Turtles, but they may have trouble catching them..

So, what exactly eats a catfish, other then us?

Just curious...

Shawn

Don't you think for a moment that a water turkey has to pick anything....They will swallow a kitty whole and digest him fins and all.

But, another natural predator for kitties, is other, bigger kitties.

This is why you will typically find kitties running in packs of folks their own size.....Not much smaller, and not much larger. Cause it would get a bit dangerous during a feeding frenzy if you were the little guy!

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Mike
www.WhiskerKitty.com

dang...I dont know how they do it.

Those little ones are the HARDEST things to get out of a cast net. I netted about 40 of the litte 4-6" channel cats in about 5 casts at calaveras, right by a water discharge tube...and it took me forever to get them out of the net. I could only imagine how hard it would be to get them down my throat.

I find it hard to believe that mr. water turkey would chase a channel cat when there are a billion tilapia and shad EVERYWHERE.

As for the bigger catfish, I could see this happening...but I still wouldn't think it would be his top choice. I guess that's why kitties are so abundant, because they have a few less predators...

I may have to disagree with you on the big/little schools. We landed a 10" blue cat and a 30" 15-20lb blue cat at the same time yesterday, maybe the blues dont eat their own?

Interesting to know this stuff for sure..

Thanks for replying!
Shawn

MikeC usually knows what he is talking about
. Again I have to agree. I watched a group of cormarants last winter feeding in 30 ft of water on a school of catfish.
They would surface with one and swallow it
in about 5 seconds. ( looked to be 8 to
10inch fish)
I watched a blue heron catch a cat off
my dock that was at least a lb maybe a lb and
a half. He pecked at that fish for at least
15 minutes. (dock was a bloody mess when
he was done) When he was satisfied that it
was dead, and had the fins laid back, He
swallowed it with no trouble.
I was fishing off the dock one night
when I heard a loud splashing behind me.
I went to investigate and there was a
water snake in the process of swallowing
a catfish that was very unco-operative.
When we jug fish, we keep our catch in
a big wire live box overnight and clean the
next morning. With out exception, every large bluecat regurgitates his last meal.
There is always skeletal remains of small
cats in the box the next morning.
So ShawnQ, perhaps the big blue was
feeding on the small blues and you just
happen to catch him ???
A customer of mine that fished the
trinity for years back in the day, says
the best big catfish bait is a 3lb bluecat,
( yes , I know that is illegal and I do not
advocate the breaking of any laws).
And lets not forget the lowly largemouth
bass, they will take a small catfish when
every time they get the chance.
Good luck
MO


[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 09-12-2003).]

I don't believe Talapia would exactly be considered a food source in most area lakes. I have to agree also with MikeC on them running the same size in packs. This is also true with sandies and I'm sure other species. Sharon

I believe it was Berkley research that showed that a Yellow would die in its hole rather than come out to feed if the shadow of a bird was on the water.

Catfish hate BIRDS!

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Thanks and Gig'em, Mark Fairchild

[This message has been edited by MarkA (edited 09-12-2003).]

[This message has been edited by MarkA (edited 09-12-2003).]

MarkA,

Funny how I always catch cats under trees where birds roost

j/k
Shawn

That is a simple one
birds roost at night and dont make shadows

Lets think about what we have learned today, Birds eat catfish, birds chum up
catfish to the roosts, catfish eat Birdsh*t
which include catfish remains.
Some catfish eat other catfish( this
take the middleman(bird) out of the equation)

What we really need is a fish that will
eat the cormarants. I would love to see
a topwater blowup on a cormarant trying to
get airborne.


Good luck MO

Mo,

I've seen a gar attack a duck here in San Antonio (at The Live Oak Park). What a site!

I've also heard of Muskie doing the same thing up north...maybe we need to mix a gar with a muskie?

Shawn

Ssnakes and long legged cranes were the worse when I raised catfish. Lakes would be3' on one end and 5' on the other end. If you got them any lower, the long legged crane3s would eat everything. I have seen snakes several times pop out of the 5' deep water with 6-8" catfish held in their mouth.

Another worthy note. You could seine the ponds mid to shallow areas when they were full of water in the winter and get no fish.
They were all huddled in the deepest part of the lake...now you know where to catch catfish in the winter.

Obiewan,

I remember a catfish farm/pay-to-fish type of place that used to be here in San Antonio (closed down). They had a few small ponds and one huge one. The huge one was crystal clear. In the winter, you had to find the 'ball' of catfish to catch anything...

Shawn

Years ago I caught a 19 lb. Striper in "the hole" below Texoma dam. It had eleven small 7 inch Blue cat in its belly.

I have seen the Brazos river get real clear in the winter, standing on a high bluff bank I could see a school of a hundred or more catfish, all swimming together, like follow the leader, in deeper water of course.

Threadfin,

So, in other words...you caught a 14-15lb striper with 4-5lbs of cats in its tummy?

Shawn

Two times last year I cleaned 3lb channel cat that had 6"-7" channels in their bellies.
In the past,I've been catchin fiddler channels steady and all of a sudden they would quit when I started catchin larger fish.I've heard that the lil (fiddler)channel cat you might be catching in a hole will leave when a school of larger channels arrive.Stomach content inspection of the bigguns leaves no dought they leave out of fear.