# Goldfish



## catfishnut (Dec 23, 2010)

My landscape company does alot of watergarden/pond maintenance and when we remove/thin out a clients pond that has to many goldfish, we take them back to our office and throw them in a small earth pond, the pond was dug solely for this purpose and only has goldfish. They've been breeding like crazy over the last 7-8 yrs and now I have thousands of of fish. I was thinking of using some for channel catfish bait, but I'm not sure if it's illegal?


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Yep its legal. Most bait stores sell them for bait. They make great flathead baits.


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## catfishnut (Dec 23, 2010)

SeanStone said:


> Yep its legal. Most bait stores sell them for bait. They make great flathead baits.


Do they have to be fished dead or as cut bait or can I fish them while they're still alive? I know that the ODNR doesn't allow introducing/releasing non native species of fish......would that apply to non native live baits?


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

catfishnut said:


> Do they have to be fished dead or as cut bait or can I fish them while they're still alive? I know that the ODNR doesn't allow introducing/releasing non native species of fish......would that apply to non native live baits?


Yes you can and should fish them live.


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## catfish_hunter (May 31, 2005)

Definately fish them live! Flathead love em!


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## catfishnut (Dec 23, 2010)

I've got fish from 1" to 5-6+", most are 3-4", but I'd guess I've got 100+ in the 5-6" range. What size would you guys recommend? I'll be targeting large channels, 28-35"+, do they like goldfish as much as flatheads? All I got to do is convince my bro that his lakes wouldn't be over run by any escapees and I'm good to go!!LOL We will be doing some spring pond maintenance on some ponds and will mostlikely be bring back a few hundred more so I've got to thin these guys out!!!!!! You guys know what I can fish for that'll take a 12"-18" koi???LOL Just one more question guys.....color....I've got orange, white, yellows, black and mixed......does any one color work better than the others?


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

catfishnut said:


> I've got fish from 1" to 5-6+", most are 3-4", but I'd guess I've got 100+ in the 5-6" range. What size would you guys recommend? I'll be targeting large channels, 28-35"+, do they like goldfish as much as flatheads? All I got to do is convince my bro that his lakes wouldn't be over run by any escapees and I'm good to go!!LOL We will be doing some spring pond maintenance on some ponds and will mostlikely be bring back a few hundred more so I've got to thin these guys out!!!!!! You guys know what I can fish for that'll take a 12"-18" koi???LOL Just one more question guys.....color....I've got orange, white, yellows, black and mixed......does any one color work better than the others?


In my opinion channels don't like them as much as flatheads. If your only fishing for channels I'd take a few of the smaller ones and try them out. I'd leave them alive, but if that doesn't work reel it in and give it a stomp. Then put it out. That usually does the trick. I don't think color matters. My girlfriends dad does however prefer the golfish with the twin tails. He calls them fancy tails. 

As for the 12 to 18" Koi, many flathead would love to eat them. A 10lb flathead would have no problem eating one. Might be a good snack for a 30 or 40 though.


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## JimmyMac (Feb 18, 2011)

SeanStone said:


> In my opinion channels don't like them as much as flatheads. If your only fishing for channels I'd take a few of the smaller ones and try them out. I'd leave them alive, but if that doesn't work reel it in and give it a stomp. Then put it out. That usually does the trick. I don't think color matters. My girlfriends dad does however prefer the golfish with the twin tails. He calls them fancy tails.
> 
> As for the 12 to 18" Koi, many flathead would love to eat them. A 10lb flathead would have no problem eating one. Might be a good snack for a 30 or 40 though.




+1 on this advice. 


When it comes to color though I actually prefer the white ones if I can afford to be picky. I don't think there is any real science behind it, just seems the white ones are a little more lucky for me, lol.


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## fredg53 (Sep 17, 2010)

Fish em alive but like Sean said depends on what u ar targeting im a huge fan of match the hatch 

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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

Here's what I meant by fancy tailed goldfish. I believe they are actually called "mollies". Your the goldfish guy though. LOL


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## catfishnut (Dec 23, 2010)

SeanStone said:


> Here's what I meant by fancy tailed goldfish. I believe they are actually called "mollies". Your the goldfish guy though. LOL


Yep thoughs are commonly called fancy tailed goldfish or fan tail goldfish. I have some of them along with some black moors (buggy eyes with a fan tail). In a wild setting most tend to get their tails beat up and all the dang goldfish in the pond are breeding now, so chasing and tail nipping will trim those tails also!lol I do have three gill in there to help eat the goldfish fry.....they were 2-3" a few years ago when I put them in there. Last time one got netted it measured 9 1/2" and was a fat boy. On a side note the small goldfish holding pond also has tons of frogs(mostly greens) and one swipe along the bottom will easily catch a dozen+ tadpole.....I'm thinking they'd be good bait for smaller channels( eating size) but again I'm not sure if you can legally use the as bait??


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## SeanStone (Sep 8, 2010)

I'm sure you'll be fine with whatever bait you choose as far as legal implications go. Small eating sized channels will probably not hit a live bait of 5-6", try the 3-4" range. More than likely you'll do better after you kill them and toss them out. Just make sure you get a little blood flow going so the cats can smell it and you should be fine. You might even try cutting them in half or partially cutting skin/scales off to get flesh exposed. Just adds more scent to the water. 
Good luck.


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## musikman43155 (May 14, 2008)

I use them quite a bit & they tend to do well in the summer when the river is very warm. 'Gills or shad may croak in the warm water, but, goldfish seem to last awhile.


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## katfish (Apr 7, 2004)

I normally use baits I catch (mostly bluegill) but switch to goldfish when water temperatures kill the gills.

I pay $12-$13 a pound so I normally use 5-6 goldfish. During channel cat spawn in June I may switch to larger goldfish to discourage the channel cats from taking them.










I don't think the flathead have a color preference. In fact I doubt they ever see the baits but home in on vibrations from struggles and flare their gills as soon as they taste/smell the the bait. This would make double tail or koi better baits since they put out more vibrations.

You shouldn't worry about getting a bait too large for flathead.










Your concern should be how large a bait you want to try and hold on bottom and how well you can keep baits alive and healthy.

It sounds like you have a sweet deal for free bait. If you want larger baits just put an automatic feeder on the pond in summer.


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