Bullheads are Catchable - Get the bait tank setup!

[TMF89]

How do you guys collect bullies? We were catching them crappie fishing today, about 6-10", so right on the edge of what you can use, and over. Someone mentioned traps, what kind of traps do you use? What do you store your bullheads in? I've read through this, and I'm wondering how long I can store them in my garage, with an aerator? Does the aerator need to be on 24/7? How often should I change the water? How large of a container should I use? Thanks guys!

[aanderud]

I bought a 50 gallon (or is it 60?) rubbermaid style bin at walmart....then wander over to the aquarium section and get an aquarium air pump and 2 stones and some hose. For approx 20-25 bucks you have a container, aerator, hose, and frame that'll easily keep at least 50 bullies for several weeks, as long as you change water fairly often. Put a wodden frame around the bin so the water doesn't push the sides out.

I tried to change my water about every 4-5 days, roughly. I kept it in my basement and the bubbler was always on. Basement temps are probably usually in the mid to low 60s, I would guess, but I have no thermometer down there for verification. When I changed water it was basically consisted of draining the water 2/3 of the way down and filling it back up with tap water. I honestly didn't even worry about chlorine when doing it this way, but some cities might be worse or better than Carver with respect to chlorination. Oh yeah, I always kept a cooler of water at the ready so that when I needed to go out, I could just scoop a dozen or 2 into the cooler and go. About a day or so is all that's needed for the water in that cooler to be mostly chlorine free.

On the boat I use a single-stone bubbler on a 12/110 volt inverter. I also have a battery operated aerator that I can use on a bucket, but mostly I use the other thing. Throw the stone in the cooler and let it run all night. The inverter draws like 400 milli-amps or something ridiculously low when running that bubbler, so I don't worry about leaving it on all the time. I mean, when I crank up the speed on my trolling motor, it draws something like 56 amps, so this is about 1% of what those batteries go through on a walleye trolling day.

As for catchin bait, I did one of 2 things -- a) buy from Bob Moore when you're too lazy or pressed for time. His bullheads aren't huge (they have to be under 7 inches to legally sell), but they catch fish, that's for sure. Option catch em with hook and ultralight rod. this is fun but takes time and you never know what you're gonna get. on a hot bite a cooler of 50 or so can be caught and that'll last a few solid outings for sure. also, catching your own allows one to stretch the 7 inch rule to the max if one wants to live on the edge.

[harvey lee]

I also do the same thing Brian only I do add the chlorine remover which I believe is called Aqua safe and also change my water every 4-5 days depending on how many bullies I have at the time. I keep them in the garage but on the real hot days when the water temps warm, I will throw in a ice pail of ice from the freezer to cool the weater back down.

[muc33]

Pretty much year round I have a half or maybe a third of a plastic 50 Gallon barrel in the garage or basement depending on weather, garage is nicer for changing water. I have the same areator that Dtro has in his pic, it is rated to 60 gallons I believe, I buy my winter bait by the gallons and it works great. I am guessing this would work for bullies as well, Just make sure if you go this route to get a dark barrel, seems to better suite the bait for fear reasons. I have found they freak out in a white one. I don't run a filter, but I did put pea rock in the bottom to help. I just dump them in a window screen every so often and hose em down to clean.

[Flaco651]

Here's the most common trap used.

Dip nets

Seines

I catch most of mine by rod and reel, but have all of the above.

[SteveD]

Since the spring of 2005 I have been running a 100 gallon stock tank in which I maintain about 75 to 100 bullheads at any given time. The bait tank is equipped with a large 110 gallon aquarium power filter to treat the water and remove harmful waste and I also run a 110 volt aerator for two 10 inch airstones.

I keep my bait tank in a small shed in my boat carport. This keeps it out of the weather and I am able to lock it up. I am a little paranoid that one of the grandkids may fall in it and get hurt. This also keeps the critters from trying to steal my bullheads.

The aquarium power filter is an AquaClear 110 Power Filter. It mounts right on the side of the stock tank, is easy to reach to clean and operate and is relatively noise free. I run the power filter 24/7 from April to early October. I am still using my original power filter so this will be its 4th season this spring. To be honest with you it is a simple setup and operation. It has 3 filters – a mechanical sponge type filter; a carbon filter; and a bacterial filter. The first couple years I ran the system I changed out the filters about once a month but last year I only changed the sponge filter one time late in the season and I ran the rest of the filters the entire season. I would rinse them out about once a month when I was doing a water change but that was it and my water was just fine the entire season and the bullheads were healthy and active.

I do at least a 50% water change about every 3 to 4 days. I have my tank set up so that I can do a water change very easily in about 20 minutes. I have a sump pump in the bottom of the tank attached to a hose that runs to my driveway. I simply plug in the pump, draw down the water 50% to 75% and throw my backyard hose into the tank and refill it. While it is draining and refilling I clean the filters and I add chemicals to condition the water. I have city water and I need to treat the chemicals in the water which would be harmful to the bullheads. The water conditioner I use is called "AmQuel Plus+" and you can find it a PetCo or PetSmart. I add about an ounce to 1 ½ ounces each time I change the water.

One thing I learned the hard way is to not add my bullheads to my bait tank for at least 36 hours after I catch them. One of the first times I stocked the tank I went out and caught a dozen nice 6 1/2 to 7 inch bullheads and dumped them in my tank. The next morning when I checked my tank they had crapped and regurgitated an incredible amount of slime and crud into my tank. It totally plugged my power filter and I had to take it out and clean it and all the filters completely. I ended up draining the tank and refilling it to get all the crud out. Now I keep the bullheads in a separate tank (a 32 gallon trash can) for at least 36 hours until they are crapped out. I have had no problems since I started doing this.

I don’t feed my bullheads because that just gets them to crapping up the tank. They can go a long time without eating but I usually purge my tank completely about every 5 to 6 weeks. When I see the numbers of bullheads getting low in the tank I will take that opportunity to empty it and completely restock. Later in the summer when water starts to heat up (75 degrees and higher) the bullheads will start to get what we call “the grey crud”. They get some kind of mold and start to die off, I will start to lose about 3 to 4 bullheads a day to this mold. That is a good time to restock the tank but it seems that every year about the middle of August the bullheads start to get the “Grey Crud” – even the new ones you just restock. I don’t think the crud comes from the tank, I think they pick it up from their home waters and just pass it around once they get sick.

I have had little to no problems maintaining a stock of bullheads. They are a tough fish that is well suited to backyard bait tanks. They are easy to catch and transport. I have several good bullhead ponds close to my home and I don’t have any trouble catching bullheads to restock the tank. I primarily maintain bullheads in my tank – I’ve tried suckers but they are too expensive and they die too easy. I can usually maintain suckers early in the spring when the water is cool and later in the fall again when the water is cool.

I usually get a lot of questions about how much everything costs and where do you get the equipment. Here is a breakdown of what I use and the approximate costs:

100 Gallon Stock Tank – Fleet Farm – about $70

AquaClear 110 Aquarium Power Filter – Pet Smart – price varies from about $40 to $80 – ask them to do a price match from the on-line Pet Smart price and you will get it for around $40 otherwise the store price is about $80.

Double outlet Aquarium air pump - WalMart - about $10

Two 10” airstones and airline – WalMart – about $10

Optional Tank Sump Pump for water changes – Menards – about $40

I keep my bait tank in one of those Rubbermaid storage sheds to keep it covered and clean and to keep one of the grandkids from falling into it. You don’t have to do that but the aquarium power filter is not designed for outdoor use so some type of bait tank cover may be needed.

[wastewaterguru]

Looks prett similar to mine.

I have a 100 gallon plastic stock tank from fleet farm. My neighbor had one of those quick set soft sided 16 foot diameter swimming pools a couple years ago and I salvaged the filter off that. It circulates so much water that I don't need to aerate. The filters are fairly cheap and can be cleaned by hand a couple times before they lose their flow. I can throw 5 or 6 dozen bullheads in there and even let them fill it with [PoorWordUsage]...and I just clean the filter in a couple days and they're good to go.

One thing to know is that chlorine is more soluble in air than it is in water. In other words, letting water sit for 24 hours is all it takes to get the chlorine out. To speed up this process, you can aerate it (this "strips" the chlorine out of the water).

If you are only doing 50% water changes, the chlorine will be gone the instant the tap water hits the tank. This is because of the remaining organic matter in the water. The chlorine will oxidize this material and form harmless chlorides. No need to use the dechlorination chemicals if there is sufficient circulation and you are only changing 50% of the water. The chemicals just add more dissolved solids to the water which eventually come out of solution and clog filters.

The gray mold spots are likely due to excess nitrates or some disease like ick. I have had success treating the water for ick.....but the only way to remove the nitrates is to have a separate filter with a residence time exceeding an hour with no oxygen. This will promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria that will denitrify the water and convert the nitrates to nitrogen gas. Or you could plant some real algae or plants in the tank.

The water changes will help with the nitrates, but I believe this is what causes the problems in the high stocking rate tanks that most of us run.

[HuskerBen]

Great info, guys. Thanks!

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: wastewaterguru

Looks prett similar to mine.

I have a 100 gallon plastic stock tank from fleet farm. My neighbor had one of those quick set soft sided 16 foot diameter swimming pools a couple years ago and I salvaged the filter off that. It circulates so much water that I don't need to aerate. The filters are fairly cheap and can be cleaned by hand a couple times before they lose their flow. I can throw 5 or 6 dozen bullheads in there and even let them fill it with [PoorWordUsage]...and I just clean the filter in a couple days and they're good to go.

One thing to know is that chlorine is more soluble in air than it is in water. In other words, letting water sit for 24 hours is all it takes to get the chlorine out. To speed up this process, you can aerate it (this "strips" the chlorine out of the water).

If you are only doing 50% water changes, the chlorine will be gone the instant the tap water hits the tank. This is because of the remaining organic matter in the water. The chlorine will oxidize this material and form harmless chlorides. No need to use the dechlorination chemicals if there is sufficient circulation and you are only changing 50% of the water. The chemicals just add more dissolved solids to the water which eventually come out of solution and clog filters.

The gray mold spots are likely due to excess nitrates or some disease like ick. I have had success treating the water for ick.....but the only way to remove the nitrates is to have a separate filter with a residence time exceeding an hour with no oxygen. This will promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria that will denitrify the water and convert the nitrates to nitrogen gas. Or you could plant some real algae or plants in the tank.

The water changes will help with the nitrates, but I believe this is what causes the problems in the high stocking rate tanks that most of us run.

wonder where this guy got his name from

good stuff John

[DTro]

The tip about the internet price match for the Aquaclear is a good one. I usually do a bit of research before buying something and came across the same thing. Nearly half off from the store price.

They are good units too. All I use is the sponge filter and just run it under clean water every so often to get all the “gunk” out.

Every once in awhile you will also have to take the pump off and clean the impeller, sometimes that will get gunked up and actually stop spinning.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: SteveD

Looks like I've got a weekend project.

[SteveD]

Hey John - Thanks for the info. Do you feed your bullheads at all? I was thinking that one of the reasons for the "Grey Crud" was that they were in a weakened condition from starvation.

One time I tried some treatment for ick but it didn't seem to help much. Do you get the "Grey Crud" in your bullheads? It looks like some kind of fungus and it only seems to happen after the water gets into the 80 degree range. It just seems easier to dump them and go get fresh ones than to fart around trying to treat them.

[mainbutter]

What's the best way to go about catching my own bait fish(bullheads and anything else)? Crawlers or leeches I assume would be a good way to go, right?

[Shack]

You can read back in this thread about catching them with traps.

When I get mine before we head down, I get some crawlers, slip sinker, split shot and a 1/0 2/0 "J" style hook from eagle (bigger means no gut hooking to a point, that I have found). Make about a 10-12" leader between split shot and hook. Use the split shot as a stop of the slip sinker (cheap river rig, because where i fish for bullies, snags are abound). Take a crawler and chunk off an inch or so. Thread it on to the hook (and I mean thread) and cast out. Once you feel the vib. of a bully, start reel'in in ( do not set the hook). The key is to catch them, with causing too much injury or bleeding.

[Larry FlatCaster]

 Originally Posted By: SteveD

Hey John - Thanks for the info. Do you feed your bullheads at all? I was thinking that one of the reasons for the "Grey Crud" was that they were in a weakened condition from starvation.

One time I tried some treatment for ick but it didn't seem to help much. Do you get the "Grey Crud" in your bullheads? It looks like some kind of fungus and it only seems to happen after the water gets into the 80 degree range. It just seems easier to dump them and go get fresh ones than to fart around trying to treat them.

Steve,

I notice the correlation in water temps, when ran over 75+ for periods the the Ick would set in. If I dropped temps down it seem slow the spread.

To the Rest. I'll second what DTRO say's The Aqua Clears are good products. I use 2 of them the 70s modle and they did great.

Remember the impeller tip also. I was pretty bummed till DTRO mentioned it.

[wastewaterguru]

I have had the "mold" in my tank a couple times and it is tough to get rid of. I don't feed the bullheads but my kids do. I just bought a cheap bag of pond pellets and the kids feed them those and they go around the yard after it rains and feed a bunch of crawlers to them also.

There are basically two choices for bullheads, change water frequently, or buy very expensive and large filters (55 gallon drums of activted carbon, big sand filters, etc).

A fish tank filter that is rated for 100 gallons will not handle a 100 gallon bait tank full of 7 inch bullheads. The standard aquarium filters are sized at a "normal" fish density.

A tank full of 6 dozen bullheads is way beyond "normal". The carbon filters are worthless for this reason unless you are buying it by the barrel. The amount of ammonia and organic matter will blind the carbon in a matter of days and most of us aren't going to replace it every 2 days at $6 a pop.

So I would simply recommend good circulation and aeration with frequent water changes and a particulate filter. I am going to monitor the nitrate levels in the tank this year out of curiousity to see if there is any relationship to this "mold" that they get. You can get the nitrate test kits at any aquarium store.

[SteveD]

 Originally Posted By: mainbutter

What's the best way to go about catching my own bait fish(bullheads and anything else)? Crawlers or leeches I assume would be a good way to go, right?

I trap most of my bullheads but when I want bigger ones I will fish for them. I've got a couple of lakes and ponds that are full of them near my home. I use a slip bobber rig with 1/16th or 1/8 oz jig tipped with a piece of nightcralwer or Berley Gulp worms. Start with the bobber set at about 2' and adjust it to find and stay on the bite. If the little sunfish start stealing your nightcrawlers before the bullheads can get to them, switch to Gulp which is tougher for them to steal and drop your bait closer to the bottom.

If the bullheads are active you should catch them right away. If your bobber hits the water and doesn't go down within 15 seconds, reel up and reposition. I don't wait long for a bite - bullheads are aggressive feeders and if they are there they will hit it right away. Keep moving your bait around until you find them.

A lot of my best ponds are in city parks that have these small lakes and storm runoff type ponds. Most of them have hiking / biking trails around the lake and they afford easy access to the lake. If you are new to your pond or lake, look for inlets or storm sewer spots dumping into the pond. Start fishing there - those spots seem to hold fish looking for food to be washed into the water.

As the summer progresses most of my ponds start to get weed choked and are harder to fish. I've waded through some ugly gunk to get to the weed edge but you will find bullheads along the weed edges along that first break into deeper water.

I've got one bullhead pond near home that has a fishing pier. I'll go down there in the evening when there are a half dozen or so kids fishing. I'll start fishing and talk the kids into helping me fill the bucket with bullheads. When 6 or 7 people are helping to catch bullheads you will have all you need in no time at all. The kids seem to enjoy helping out.

[Waterflea]

What do you guys use to bait the fish traps?

[Scott K]

Dogfood.

[wastewaterguru]

For those interested, I built a biofilter last night for the bait tank. I will update with pictures and a description after all the silicone dries.

Total cost $45......not including a pump because I already had the pump.

The purpose was to see if an inexpensive biofilter could be built and used successfully. No problem building one for little money....we'll have to see how it performs though.

Here are the basics..........

35 gallon garbage can

72 square feet of open foam carpet pad

a couple pieces of pipe

a tube of silicone

two young kids with scissors

Total time for construction...less than 1 hour.

[Larry FlatCaster]

 Originally Posted By: wastewaterguru

For those interested, I built a biofilter last night for the bait tank. I will update with pictures and a description after all the silicone dries.

Total cost $45......not including a pump because I already had the pump.

The purpose was to see if an inexpensive biofilter could be built and used successfully. No problem building one for little money....we'll have to see how it performs though.

Here are the basics..........

35 gallon garbage can

72 square feet of open foam carpet pad

a couple pieces of pipe

a tube of silicone

two young kids with scissors

Total time for construction...less than 1 hour.

Sounds cool. keep us posted on how it works. Are you going to add anything to initiate and accelerate the Bio Filter or are you going to let nature run its course. Seems like a large quantity of filter to self start.

[SteveD]

Like Larry said this sounds interesting. Keep us all posted on how this works out.

[DTro]

Can’t wait to see that John.

Just a tip about using the AquaClear filters:

You need to secure the lid on with something, otherwise all the gunk that the bullies spit up get in there and actually creates enough pressure to push the particulate filter up and pop off the lid and make a nice dam for the water to pump onto the floor instead of back into the tank

Even with that, I still try to rinse out the filter every day or two at the most.

[Shack]

I know some of you guys are and must be aquarium freaks . I was threw my late teens and early twenties (I did have smaller tanks since I was young). I ran a 75gal fresh water tank for years and learned a ton on how to take care of fish (fresh water) from that experience. But it has been 7-8 years now since I sold my tank and it is funny how you forget about things. You guys are bringing up memories from the past.

Thanks

[wastewaterguru]

I may seed the filter, but I think that the bullies produce enough "stuff" to start it by itself. Also the bait that's already in the tank has been in there for two days and they were eating already as of last night so it won't take long to generate some biomass if I continue to actively feed the fish....