05-20-2023, 04:50 PM
(05-18-2023, 08:15 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Got a couple of theories about the catfish. It all has to do with the food chain thing. In the olden days there were a lot more cats...of all sizes...because there was a lot more cat food. That was a combination of lots of crawdads and lots of young crappies. Both hung around the rock dikes around the shorelines...because in those days the lake stayed pretty full year round and the water level was always well up into the rocks. So the best place to fish for both cats and walleyes was around the dikes...where the groceries were.
In those days, there weren't any wipers or shad. These days the wipers compete with the cats for crawdads and other available food during the months when there are no shad for their hungry mouths. Furthermore, young catfish are also on the menu for both wipers and walleyes when the shad are too big, too small or not available at all. The combination of decreased food supply and increased predation on baby catfish result in fewer cats surviving to become adults. The upside is that those that do survive to grow bigger.
One of the factors supporting this theory is the relative lack of small catfish being caught. There were times in recent years when catfish were abundant...but seldom over 18 inches...with lots of "footlongs". Then, as wiper numbers increased the cats decreased in abundance but have been getting to a larger average size each year.
I remember all those small cats way back when, seemed like an endless amount of them little guys. With the numbers we have been catching the last few years, I have no doubt there are still plenty left to be caught but it's good to hear some bigger cats are being caught too, like that 10 lber that guy caught earlier this week.