Hal wrote:

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:35:19 +0100, "someone"
wrote:



Catfish are bottom grazers, which is why they're not very good to eat,
they taste muddy. I don't think your catfish will eat your goldfish.



Depends on what you are calling catfish. What they call catfish in
Michigan, I'll agree. Georgia and other Southern states have pond
raised catfish that are fit for a king when served up cornmeal
battered and fried. We usually have them with hush puppies, cheese
grits, cole slaw and (sweet) ice tea. Now if you are talking real
catfish they are bottom feeders, just like koi and goldfish, but you
notice how quick the koi learn to eat from the surface, well, a
catfish might be just a bit slower, but they eat handouts from the top
too. My cousin used to catch his by throwing in some fish food and
dangling empty (shiny) hooks in the water. Once the feeding starts
the catfish would bite the hooks even without bait.

Catfish can be agressive eaters and they aren't limited to the bottom
of the pond so if you want your small goldfish I'd advise seperating
them from the catfish.

Regards,

Hal


I agree Hal I raise channel cats in my 1/3+ acre pond and they get about
5 pounds of food a night. It is fantastic to watch 30 or 40 5-7 pound
cats hit the surface at the same time. My favorite way of getting a
couple for dinner is to use a fly rod and what I call "The Brown Lump"
fly. It is some of the wife's brown thread wrapped around a baitholder
hook. A little hair spray to help it float among the food when I feed
them and hang on to the fly rod!

Bob in North Alabama