Lots of guys selling catfish

[SLP]

Personally I doubt I would go to a pay lake for Asian Carp for a few reasons.

If I go to a pay lake it would be because I want to give my children a better chance of catching both more fish, and a bigger fish to help build their excitement in interest in the sport. Part of that though would be for them to actually catch a fish like they would be when fishing with me other times, and learning about setting the hook, etc. and snagging a carp just wouldn't be the same .

While I am sure they taste good, I have read that they have a ton of bones and are a nightmare to clean. I just wouldn't want to deal with that compared to cleaning a catfish. Maybe they would have to offer some type of cleaning service included in the price.

One other big concern I would have about Asian Carp pay lakes. Would the catching, transporting and selling of them increase the chances of them maybe ending up dumped in some water that is currently uninfected by them? Even if it is only a small chance, if there was any increase in the chance that they spread because of this, I would not want to take that chance.

[SLP]

As far as looking at catfish the same as any other sport fish and considering more limits. Wouldn't one big difference be that since they are stocked so heavily specifically so that people can catch them and keep them, so they will always be considered a little different than most of the other managed sport fish?

Personally I hardly ever fish for catfish, but that said I can see where at least in certain waters there maybe should be a restrictions to how many large trophy fish people can keep. The fact that it takes so many years for a fish to grow to some of these trophy sizes just makes it really common sense that there should be a limit past a certain size. Once a fish manages to escape capture long enough to grow to a certain designated trophy size he should have at least some minimum protections.

[Beespringer]

Personally I doubt I would go to a pay lake for Asian Carp for a few reasons.

If I go to a pay lake it would be because I want to give my children a better chance of catching both more fish, and a bigger fish to help build their excitement in interest in the sport. Part of that though would be for them to actually catch a fish like they would be when fishing with me other times, and learning about setting the hook, etc. and snagging a carp just wouldn't be the same .

While I am sure they taste good, I have read that they have a ton of bones and are a nightmare to clean. I just wouldn't want to deal with that compared to cleaning a catfish. Maybe they would have to offer some type of cleaning service included in the price.

One other big concern I would have about Asian Carp pay lakes. Would the catching, transporting and selling of them increase the chances of them maybe ending up dumped in some water that is currently uninfected by them? Even if it is only a small chance, if there was any increase in the chance that they spread because of this, I would not want to take that chance.

I can see your points and there well stated. Paylakes have another alternative to wild fish and that's farm raised fish. Many paylakes stock these fish but they aren't as big as what they can buy from the netters. So what they do is buy most of the smaller size fish from the farms and buy the older larger fish from the C/F guys that net them from ky waters.. Some paylakes buy their own C/F license and net the fish themselves.

Regulating wild caught catfish WILL not shut down paylakes it will only help having a healthy population of wild fish.

[SLP]

I can see your points and there well stated. Paylakes have another alternative to wild fish and that's farm raised fish. Many paylakes stock these fish but they aren't as big as what they can buy from the netters. So what they do is buy most of the smaller size fish from the farms and buy the older larger fish from the C/F guys that net them from ky waters.. Some paylakes buy their own C/F license and net the fish themselves.

Regulating wild caught catfish WILL not shut down paylakes it will only help having a healthy population of wild fish.

I am not informed enough on the subject to know all of the consequences to the commercial fisherman and how big a part of their business it is, or how much it would economically hinder the pay lake business but I don't really see much down side of making it illegal to sell any wild catfish to pay lakes. Just require they get all their fish from farms. But again, I admit I am not informed enough to know all the impacts of such a decision.

[Bill Avery]

You know, a SINGLE adult (female) Asian Carp can lay a million eggs. It's estimated that there is a 70 to 80% survival rate of those eggs--- thats 700,000 to 800,000 baby asian carp that will grow 2-5 lbs in it's first year, and 15 to 20 pounds in it's second year!
Carp Madness set out --I think was-- 15 of the toughest commercial fishers who busted their tail for two days and netted a mere 80,000+ lbs.

Why continue with what seems nothing less than an erradication effort of larger catfish--the Asian carps largest predator? (the alligator gar is endangered)
It makes no sense to allow commercial harvest of any size catfish while claiming to be serious about any real effort to control the asian carp population. The catfish is likely the biggest, most effective weapon we will ever have to battle these invasive fishes for years to come.

[LTfish]

You know, a SINGLE adult (female) Asian Carp can lay a million eggs. It's estimated that there is a 70 to 80% survival rate of those eggs--- thats 700,000 to 800,000 baby asian carp that will grow 2-5 lbs in it's first year, and 15 to 20 pounds in it's second year!
Carp Madness set out --I think was-- 15 of the toughest commercial fishers who busted their tail for two days and netted a mere 80,000+ lbs.

Why continue with what seems nothing less than an erradication effort of larger catfish--the Asian carps largest native predator? (the alligator gar is endangered)
It makes no sense to allow commercial harvest of any size catfish while claiming to be serious about any real effort to control the asian carp population. The catfish is likely the biggest, most effective weapon we will ever have to battle these invasive fishes for years to come.

I fish paylakes and fish them mostly to eat. My concern is are these paylakes stocking farm raised catfish or are these catfish coming out of the Ohio river All the owners of these paylakes say they are farm raised catfish I also think some of the fish are coming from KY lake I would like to know just where the catfish the paylakes are stocking are coming from.

[Repoman3809]

I fish paylakes and fish them mostly to eat. My concern is are these paylakes stocking farm raised catfish or are these catfish coming out of the Ohio river All the owners of these paylakes say they are farm raised catfish I also think some of the fish are coming from KY lake I would like to know just where the catfish the paylakes are stocking are coming from.

If your catching a lot of bigger catfish in your paylake, they are coming from the Ohio River.

Catfish grow at a much, much slower rate in small lakes, especially if the lake is populated well with catfish. If your catching catfish over 15lbs on a regular basis, there more than likely from the Ohio River.

[sweetwater]

Would it be more effective to attack the pay lakes, patrons of pay lakes and commercial fisherman rather than recreational fisherman? Also, if Kentucky adopts catfish regulations then any state that shares a border on the Ohio or Mississippi rivers with Kentucky and has a reciprocal agreement with Kentucky, which I think most border states do, would have to adopt the same regulations. If they don't then all one would need to do is get a license from another state besides Kentucky and they're back in business. Then, only the bodies of water entirely inside Kentucky's border would have effective regulations. The reason Alabama has been very successful with catfish regulations is the state fully controls the bodies of water where success has occurred.

[Bill Avery]

I fish paylakes and fish them mostly to eat. My concern is are these paylakes stocking farm raised catfish or are these catfish coming out of the Ohio river All the owners of these paylakes say they are farm raised catfish I also think some of the fish are coming from KY lake I would like to know just where the catfish the paylakes are stocking are coming from.

Farm raise channel catfish... I've never heard of a farm raised flathead the just grow too slow for profit... I have seen hibred, farmed raised blue/channel mix... they are suppost to grow faster, but I have had some for decades, I say they grow as slow as a regular blue and don't get that big... maybe 20 lbs tops.... they're a bit hardier in a pond, but not by much.

[Repoman3809]

Mr Brooks,


I've noticed the State of Ky has continued to refer to catfisherman fighting for regulations on catfish in Ky as, "Trophy Catfishers" or "Tournament Anglers". Please understand the general population of Ohio River catfishers are neither. They're just basic fishers who have seen declining populations of catfish(not just trophies). The folks leading this battle may be such, and for obvious reasons.

Most of us don't want to take away from commercial fishers, but more-so we don't want to see catfish in Ky and especially the Ohio River become the next endangered species. I'm not sure if you yourself fish the Ohio River and fish for Catfish, but I am sure if you did, you would see the damage caused in such a short time.

As I'm sure you know catfishing is one of the fastest growing forms of fishing in the US. Hence, the reason for the explosion of catfish paylakes. It's our job as outdoorsman to protect and preserve all natural wildlife. It's very disheartening that the State of Ky is not doing this.

Having someone monitor these boards/threads on a regular basis would be excellent!

As for the comment: "Some recreational anglers were opposed to any new restriction and claimed the catfish populations are better than previous conditions in the 70’s and 80’s." Why would any fisher bother to say this, unless they had a motive. Can you see a bass fisher saying something like this? "Hey to many bass...sick of catching so many. Please don't set any regulations." Whoever said this is a commercial fisher or this statement was made up.

In regards to "Item 4", "Approximately 7-8 catfish tournaments on the Ohio River have been identified and Fisheries personnel will be present to document their harvest and size distribution.
- Total tournament size distribution will be compiled in the Fall 2013 and compared to other sampling methods." Please understand that if any of these tournaments have intersecting waters with restricted fishiers(like the Mississippi River), then the results are skewed.

Most every catfisherman I've meet or ran across here on the net, practice "CPR"(catch/photograph/release). Especially if the fish is medium to large, or some around record in size. If most of us fishers self impose such regulations and a lot of other States have set regulations. Why has the State with the most shoreline, on one of the largest rivers in the US, not done so?

[Beespringer]

Farm raise channel catfish... I've never heard of a farm raised flathead the just grow too slow for profit... I have seen hibred, farmed raised blue/channel mix... they are suppost to grow faster, but I have had some for decades, I say they grow as slow as a regular blue and don't get that big... maybe 20 lbs tops.... they're a bit hardier in a pond, but not by much.

Yeah I agree. I've don't know of any fish farms raising flatheads for stocking in pay lakes. These fish are caught from the wild and transported to pay lakes. There are many farms that raise and sell blues,channels and hybrids between the two. Regulating our wild ky waters against taking these bigger trophy fish will not hurt the pay lakes as too getting fish to stock. They can buy them from fish farms and a person dosnt have to worry about fish that might be contaminated from toxins.Like I said before its not only the Ohio river that's being affected its also other ky rivers and lakes that get hammered. If we as sportsmen believe in conservation for game management than we need to stand up for this issue.

[Bill Avery]

Taken directly from their fw.ky.gov a growth rate study of catfish from the Ohio river. (2007)

The oldest male flathead catfish collected was a 31-year-old fish that measured 41 inches and weighed approximately 38 pounds while the oldest female flathead collected was 21 years of age, measured 33 inches and weighed approximately 18 pounds.

Similar differences in growth rates for male and female blue catfish are also being observed in the Ohio River. By age 15, male blue catfish (36 inches) begin to outgrow female blue catfish (29 inches). The largest female blue cat collected was 24 years old, measured 33 inches and weighed nearly 15 pounds compared to a 24 year old male that measured 45 inches and
weighed just over 50 pounds.

Flathead
male 31 y/o = measured 41" and weighed only 38 lbs...... a female flathead 21 y/o measured 33" and weighed only 18 lbs!

bluecat

female 24 y/o measured 33" and weighed only 15 lbs..... a 24 year old male measuring 45 " weighed only 50.