PlanetCatfish.com

So my mom has a man made 1 acre pond on her property (http://easternshoreparadise.com/). It is stocked with Bass and Catfish. She recently found 2 large catfish on the shore though. One was barely alive (she moved him back into shallow water but he didn't try to swim off) and the other had already died. They both had wounds of some sort, but neither she nor I have any idea what they could be. Any help?

First the dead one...





and this is the one that she moved to the shallow water... she went back out the next day and he was still there, but alive. She moved him out deeper and he managed to swim off, but not very rapidly she said. Of course, now we have to wonder if she didn't allow for whatever it is to spread to even more of the pond.

As far as I know, North American Catfish (which I presume is what we're talking about here, as Bass is a native North American fish), do not "walk onto land" - which means that these fish got onto land with some "help" from someone/something else.

I'd hazard a guess that you may have fishing birds on the property, and that those have dragged the fish out of the water, and also caused the damage.

I'm by no means a fish health-expert, but that would be my best guess.

Finally, can you please fill in your "location" in the Profile section at the top right of this page - that way, we don't have to guess where you're from based on the fish that are kept in your (moms) pond...

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Mats

Thanks for the Reply. I live in TX, but my mother lives in Maryland. Yes, she does have fishing birds that frequent the pond, and that was our first thought, but the sores didn't look specifically like they were "inflicted." they were close enough to the water's edge we had thought it possible they had "beached" themselves and thought it best to put it to the pro's for another perspective.

Thanks for filling in the profile.

I can't say more about the injuries on the fish (the pictures are pretty vague anyways - any chance of a close-up of the wounds?).

So, do I get it right that the first picture isn't from where the fish was found?

I would also say that the fish look like they haven't been feeding very well - sunken stomach for sure. This may or may not be related to some illness - but certainly, I'd expect the fish to be slightly more "rounded" in the stomach area.

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Mats

The first fish looks like it has the kind of sores usually associated with a bacterial (Aeromonas/Pseudomonas) infection. I don't see any such sores on the second fish (except for a few nicks).

Another possibility is an angler came and caught these bullheads and tried to toss them onto shore just to kill them. It happens, unfortunately, everywhere. I'd ask your mother to see if other people frequent the pond and fish there. Yeah...edit...the reason being because the first one shows red spots...those are VERY common in fish that have been mishandled/abused by an angler.

wizkidd26 wrote:Another possibility is an angler came and caught these bullheads and tried to toss them onto shore just to kill them. It happens, unfortunately, everywhere. I'd ask your mother to see if other people frequent the pond and fish there. Yeah...edit...the reason being because the first one shows red spots...those are VERY common in fish that have been mishandled/abused by an angler.

I'm trying to understand... is an angler a fisherman? Nobody fishes this pond but friends and family. She owns 48 acres and this pond is less than 100 yards from the house.



but why would a fisherman throw them up on shore to kill them?

Yes, an angler is a fisherman.

And people do ridiculous things with regard to fishing for fish all the time. Some people believe that certain fish, 'roughfish' in particular, are bad for the aquatic environment and should be removed, period. Catfish are considered as in-between a roughfish and a gamefish. Bass are strongly considered to be gamefish because they are a 'desirable' species to fish for. Some fishermen believe that the 'roughfish' will ruin the bass fishing and attempt to remove those 'roughfish' to "improve" the bass fishing. I don't know why people think in this way. One way those bad fishermen kill the fish is to toss them onto shore and let them suffocate and die.

I'd make sure that nobody is sneaking onto the property and fishing without the knowledge of your mother/family. Many unscrupulous fishermen will sneak onto private property, especially at night, to fish and do whatever it is that they do.

Any questions, feel free to ask.