
William asks…
Are there any harmful creatures in Nolan Lake?
I’m going to Nolan Lake with my family next week and lately I’ve heard that not only do they have creatures in the sea but they could have some in a lake. I went to Dale Hollow Lake several years ago and I remember they had models of fish they caught… and one of them looked like a huge piranha with big teeth. I am Ichthyophobic (fear of fish). I’m not really that scared of blue gills or other fish that size or smaller. But when it comes to catfish or bigger, I freak out! Yes, I have been in a lake before but the only time I ever get in the water is if I go tubing or water skiing but I never go in for a swim because I’m scared I might touch something with my feet. Write back, thanks

catfishexpert answers:
I get that feeling when im in the ocean….I went out in my uncles boat like 6 years ago and went for a swim somewhere in florida, it was in tampa
i couldnt stop thinking if i touch the bottom, something would bite me and then some kid brought up a starfish and that made me even more scared so i went back on the boat lol
but now its like i got over it. Swimming in the lake, theres nothing that would touch you or anything, but i did look on the website and there is bass, crappie, and catfish
those wont do nothing, they may sound harmful but they will just swim away if u move alot
think about it, if u move alot when ur fishing, like rocking the boat, then the fish wont come, its the same thing as ur body, just move around alot and they will go away
but theres nothing out there that is harmful =)

Robert asks…
I have a cichlid tank… could someone help please?
ok heres the thing, my tank is 70 gallons, and on the left side i have a huge piece of drift wood that my cichlids (blue acara’s) and my columbian catfish like to swim around/hide under. this drift wood only takes up about half of the tank. the other side has a smaller piece of driftwood and some bridge thing that they can swim through. they rarely ever swim around the other side of the tank. is there anything i can do that will make both sides of the tank equally as appealing? im thinking about adding a few more fish and i dont believe half of the tank is big enough for so many fish..
i have been wanting to add a floating plant, but i never see anything in the stores nor can i find any information online about what is good or w/e. does anyone know a good one or know where i can buy one?

catfishexpert answers:
My suggestion would be to move the Drift wood to the center of the tank and decorate the two sides with plants.

Steven asks…
if Libs went to work on a rig in La you know what they would have been given today?
A 2ft wide catered plate of catfish fillets, succulent & spicy fried shrimp and a mound of the biggest frog legs i’ve personally ever seen.
my keyboard is greasy as hell, but i’m a happy camper right now!
these frog legs look like they were on roids man…they could have steaked them up and bbq’d them.
its so good i’m going to banish my homophobia for a sec to suck my fingers…dadgummit thats good!
C’est bon!

catfishexpert answers:
If libs went to work on a rig in La, I expect they would be beaten up by all the conservatives.

Donald asks…
I want bigger bass in my lake, what can I do?
I have a lot on a small lake. A group of 25 people own it, and I am an owner. Brim fishing is the best ever. It is nothing to catch pound and a half brim. The bass are small, you can catch quite a few but all are small. The crappie do not do good at all, I don’t think they reproduce, that is what I have been told. I think we have too many bass and not enough food for them. Looks like they would eat the brim? Do bass need more than brim to eat? Maybe that is way the crappie are not reproducing, the bass are
eating them? How would I take some bass out, and what could we put in that would reproduce for food for the bass to eat? Catfish have been put in about 4 years ago and they are getting big. I was thinking what role the catfish would play for bigger bass?

catfishexpert answers:
I agree with the other post. If your Bluegill are huge and the Bass are “scrawny” more than likely you have an over-abundance of Brim/Bluegill.
In a pond situation, Bass, Crappie & Bluegill tend to feed on the same forage. A small pond just can’t support enough good Bass/Crappie forage (like Shiners & Shad) to allow your bass to get any size quickly.
If there is 25 Bluegill for every 1 Bass guess who’s gonna starve?
Also, there may not be appropriate breeding areas in your pond.
Bass like sandy-bottom shallows in 2-4FT with some form of vegetation as a “cover” to form their “beds”. If your pond has very little vegetation and a silty/muddy bottom your Bass are probably struggling to reproduce.
Catfish and Sunfish (Sunfish-Bass, Crappie, Bluegill) don’t really compete for food. Catfish are bottom feeders and fish in the Sunfish family like surface and “live” prey. However, Catfish AND Brim would LOVE a nice snack of baby Bass or Crappie eggs & fry!
Also, Bass don’t grow as “fast” as Brim. And Crappie need fairly deep & clean water to grow to any size. Bass WILL eat bluegill, but only as a last resort. (Bluegill have a nasty spiny dorsal fin that makes them tough to swallow!)
Bass need a good source of forage, sandy-bottom, and structure to hide from predators and ambush food to survive.
In my opinion, you probably have too many Bluegill and they are competing (and winning) against your Crappie & Bass.
I suggest you make some more structure around your pond. Small tree’s layed down in the water every 30-40 feet will allow your Bass some type of “ambush” structure, (and give you something to cast at when fishing!).
I would also make some fish attractors and submerge them in 5-6 FT of water. (Easy fish attractor?- Make a 4 Ft x 4 Ft pyrimid out of PVC piping. Fill the PVC pipe with dry concrete to keep it stationary. Apply chicken wire to the sides of the pyrimid to allow algae and vegetation to grow.)
Want a quick way to fatten your bass?
Go to your local aquarium shop and buy 100 or so feeder minnows. Do this every week for 6 weeks. Your Bass will love it!
The problem?- You don’t want to get your Bass/Crappie relying on “un-natural” forage you won’t always be adding to their environment.
If you had the time & money, you could slowly add live crawdads to your pond and they would reproduce and create excellent forage for your Bass/Crappie.
And of course, get in touch with your local freshwater fish commission or DNR and ask there opinion.
Hope this info helps ya somehow? Good luck!
Powered by Yahoo! Answers











