08-31-2010, 12:17 AM
[quote 4poundonly]Thanks Tubedude[cool] Never would of thought you fished mead before I guessed you were strictly a utah man. I think ive read one of your willard posts where you had pics of channels with tubejigs still in their mouth.
Had a anothor question for you might aswell ask here how do you tell the dif between male/female cats?
anyway way to tell age by lengh and girth?
thanks again[
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[cool][#0000ff]I lived in Boulder City for a while when I was still a kid, and I have been back to fish Mead quite a few times over the years. Also have helped other guys put together gear for tournaments or family trips so I do know that pond reasonably well.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The easiest way to tell a male from a female is by the color and head shape. In most waters the males are darker color, have bigger heads and a big mouth with big lips. Females are generally a brown or olive color...and their heads are about the same width as their upper bodies. (See attached pics) But, there are differences in water chemistry, food and other habitat factors that sometimes make both species very dark in color. You have to know the water as well as the fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are a lot of differences in those local ecology factors that determine how fast a catfish grows or how big it can get in a specific water. Waters with long growing seasons, with warm water and a lot of food, will produce more and bigger catfish than small waters with little food and a short growing season. A 2 pound catfish from one lake may be as old as a 5 pounder from another lake. Only a trained biologist can tell for sure...usually by checking the growth rings on the "otolith" bones inside the heads of the fish. That usually means that those fish won't be growing any more rings.[/#0000ff]
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Had a anothor question for you might aswell ask here how do you tell the dif between male/female cats?
anyway way to tell age by lengh and girth?
thanks again[
][/quote][cool][#0000ff]I lived in Boulder City for a while when I was still a kid, and I have been back to fish Mead quite a few times over the years. Also have helped other guys put together gear for tournaments or family trips so I do know that pond reasonably well.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The easiest way to tell a male from a female is by the color and head shape. In most waters the males are darker color, have bigger heads and a big mouth with big lips. Females are generally a brown or olive color...and their heads are about the same width as their upper bodies. (See attached pics) But, there are differences in water chemistry, food and other habitat factors that sometimes make both species very dark in color. You have to know the water as well as the fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are a lot of differences in those local ecology factors that determine how fast a catfish grows or how big it can get in a specific water. Waters with long growing seasons, with warm water and a lot of food, will produce more and bigger catfish than small waters with little food and a short growing season. A 2 pound catfish from one lake may be as old as a 5 pounder from another lake. Only a trained biologist can tell for sure...usually by checking the growth rings on the "otolith" bones inside the heads of the fish. That usually means that those fish won't be growing any more rings.[/#0000ff]
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