# Bullheads



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I have a local pond that supposedly is full of bullheads and the owner wants them cleaned out, (thats where I come in) anyways I am looking to catch a bunch to use for flathead bait. I know the early season bite can be pretty good for them just wondered how early you guys fish for them and what techniques work well for you in a pond like situation. Much younger in my fishing days, we used to do well with them with just worms and hot dogs on the bottom but wondered if there were any other tips. I will certainly focus on the small runoff area that comes into the pond.

Thanks Salmonid


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## poormanspalmbeachfishing (Feb 19, 2007)

from the ODNR site
FISHING METHODS: Bullheads bite readily on a variety of baits. Bullhead fishing requires only simple, inexpensive equipment. Worms, chicken liver, or catalpa worms should be fished near the bottom.

they happen to be in my buddies pond and we can catch them on a worm and bobber right on the bottom. 

ive never tried fishing for them real early in the year but i would say when the water gets warmer and settled down from the ice melt and snow runoff youll be set.


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

in wood side lake i do great with bread while fishing for carp i catch 10-15 of them worms with a small spilt shot works too but any thing that will work for cat fish will work for bullheads just down size a bit they are very slick so watch out for thoose tines they are sharp


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

Alot of people do really well at St Mary's in April with red worms on bottom in some of the channels.


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

I was doing realy well on them at punderson with just a cut bluegill. Also chicken livers had a ton of hits on those. I hear shrimp is good but i do better on cut bait.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

actually mark, right now is a really good time to catch them, used to fish for them all of the time in the winter months. paylakes used to stock them from december through march and we would burn them up, even with the lake half iced over. i always thought the colder months werebest for them, they seemed to bite better then. unfortunately, will not need them until mid april or so. crawlers on the bottom is the best bet. if there are a lot of 'gills in there and you can get the gills in a feeding frenzy with bread or something the feeding will draw in the 'bulls like crazy.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

if its a private lake where you could legally catch them in a castnet, the best way to catch big numbers is fish for them till you find some then chum with finely chopped liver, give it like 5-10 minutes and throw the net right over the chum. if its a pond with an overpopulation you usually get 30-100 but it only works once and its easier when the water is warm. also flats only seem to eat them when the water is warm, like 70+ otherwise i havnt done much good on them except on rare occasions in the fall.
p.s. those paylaker guys will pay good money for them, but its illegal so i dont recomned it


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Yeah, its a private pond so I figure Ill fish for them, cast net for them and set traps to cover all the bases. 
Dink, I rememeber as a kid always catching them with the pond half covered with ice which is why i was thinking now might be good but its really too early to use them for bait so Ill probably wait until 1st of April and then we will go work on them. How well do they hold up in bait tanks?? I know there pretty durable little critters. Could I hold them for a month in a bait tank? or should I wait until its getting closer to flathead time before i start to gather them?

Thanks for the replies folks, 
Salmonid


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

by far the best way to catch alot of bullheads very quickly would be to use the "ole can" trick. take several pop cans and run a rope/string through them and sink them to the bottom of the pond... you can bait the cans with pieces of cut bait or just wait a few days and then check it... there should be a fair amount in the cans because bullheads love dark holes and they will swim into the cans and you can either cut them out of the cans or just shake them out. but if your looking for more fun method of collecting them then just catch them on rod&reel... use nightcrawlers and shrimp on the bottom... and if you cant seems to get enough from your pond, look toward clark lake in springfield... it's loaded with the little bugers.


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

Salmonid said:


> Yeah, its a private pond so I figure Ill fish for them, cast net for them and set traps to cover all the bases.
> Dink, I rememeber as a kid always catching them with the pond half covered with ice which is why i was thinking now might be good but its really too early to use them for bait so Ill probably wait until 1st of April and then we will go work on them. How well do they hold up in bait tanks?? I know there pretty durable little critters. Could I hold them for a month in a bait tank? or should I wait until its getting closer to flathead time before i start to gather them?
> 
> Thanks for the replies folks,
> Salmonid


put them in a fish tank i have had two in a 50 gal for 1 and ahalf years noe they do very well


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## eatwhatyoukeep (May 2, 2005)

You will be able to catch them early, before flathead fishing gets good. People in Vermont used to go after ice out when the bullheads migrated into the swamps to spawn. I would rig up something like a sabiki rig where you can put 6 or 8 hooks on at a time to increase your odds.

You will never get those things cleared out of his pond but you could put some nice channels or a flathead into the pond, they like to eat bullheads and would keep the population down

I should add that my uncle had a pond that was filled with yellow bullheads. He said when he drained the pond there were so many of them that they completely covered the bottom of his pond.


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## bigdogsteve-o (Aug 26, 2005)

hey mark, try a slip bobber with nightcrawler, then try hot dog. If that doesnt work try wax worms. its still early in the year so they might even hit chicken livers. Nate and i have had chicken livers work well in ponds and the river.


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## neocats1 (Oct 14, 2006)

If your goal is to clear out the bullheads, try stocking flatheads instead of trying to catch them all.


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## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

I remember reading an excerpt from Field and Stream about bullhead fishing in a pond. They used red worms and the first 2 cast are the most important. You should make 2 long cast making an imaginary X in the middle of the pond. You want to very slowly drag your bait across the bottom both times. Then on the third cast and everyone after that you cast right in the middle of the X. The bullheads sense of smell is so great he'll pick up the scent and then follow it till he finds the bait and if he comes across your X they'll all eventually make their way to the center, where your bait should always be. At least in theory.


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## TIGHTLINER (Apr 7, 2004)

'*Pigsticker*' thanks for posting the _X-Pond Bullhead Catfish _Method. 
This spring I am going to give it a try.......TightLines!


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