Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: KarateKick on September 14, 2017, 01:51:43 PM

Title: Catfish
Post by: KarateKick on September 14, 2017, 01:51:43 PM
When I was a little girl my uncle took me to Mission to catch catfish.  He is not around anymore and I don't know the location.  Can you catch catfish anywhere close to the city of Vancouver?

Thank you.

Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: poper on September 14, 2017, 02:14:41 PM
Roley lake, hatxic lake have them, not sure you would want to go fish just for them, I think your supposed to just throw them in the bush if you catch 1, lol, at least that's what I have seen done around there.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: RalphH on September 14, 2017, 03:36:51 PM
they have poisonous spines in some of their fins that deliver a very painful sting.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: KarateKick on September 14, 2017, 03:56:21 PM
they have poisonous spins in some of their fins that deliver a very painful sting.

Yikes.  I don't recall being stung as a child.  I have been stung recently by some lower Fraser sculpins though.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: sbc hris on September 14, 2017, 05:41:43 PM
I suspect they're in the Fraser as well, though I'm not sure where you'd fish for them. I once saw a dead one in the Stave River, so they must be in the Fraser and tribs to some degree.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: Bavarian Raven on September 14, 2017, 05:58:40 PM
Como lake in coquitlam has some...
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: firstlight on September 14, 2017, 06:07:37 PM
Try some of the sloughs in Pitt Meadows.
Yes they do sting and its not funny as I watched someone get stung when I was young.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: hammer on September 14, 2017, 06:26:56 PM
Karate kick
If you are wanting a high success, kid friendly venue....I take my kids to Pitt marsh. Google earth the area and before you get to Grant Narrows, turn right on the gravel road and park at the pipe gate.  Red and white bobber, medium split shot, #6 -8 hook and worm. You can catch catfish, bass, sunfish, crappies etc. Every pond or slough in that area has those fish. ....some have roadside access. Plus lots of wildlife to see.
In Burnaby ...deer lake has bass, sunfish, catfish, some trout and it is close with good access. I took a group of kids canoeing there and saw people fishing from the dock and several point in the southern shore. Worth a look. I took a small boat and floated around with my young son and we caught bass and sunfish on a bobber and worm.

Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: TimL on September 14, 2017, 08:58:34 PM
I suspect they're in the Fraser as well, though I'm not sure where you'd fish for them. I once saw a dead one in the Stave River, so they must be in the Fraser and tribs to some degree.
Yup..they are around but not in large numbers. Here's one that was caught last spring in the tidal Fraser (off Delta/New West) while bait fishing for dollies. We were surprised seeing one so far downstream in the estuary.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4228/33957602603_0055230bf4_z.jpg)

Lafarge lake has them too..check out the shallows by the floating dock
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: Damien on September 14, 2017, 09:51:21 PM
As does Trout Lake in East Van.  Along with Sunfish, Crappie and Carp.

Again, bobber and worm or corn will get you action.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: clarki on September 14, 2017, 10:17:47 PM
they have poisonous spines in some of their fins that deliver a very painful sting.

Truth. Perhaps poisonous, but certainly 3 sharp bony spines: one each on the two pectoral fins and one on the dorsal fin.

As a catfish hunter in my Ontarion youth I regularly caught channel cats and brown and black bullheads. Unlike spiny rayed fish that you can smooth out the dorsal fin with your hand by approaching it from the head, no such luck with the spines on a cat.

My strategy to get a firm hand on the fish and to not get jabbed was to grasp the fish from behind so that the dorsal spine was against the webbing of your hand between your thumb and index fingers and then place your thumb and index fingers behind the spines on the pectoral fins and press them forward.

Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: lewisk on September 14, 2017, 10:46:59 PM
Hatzic lake in Mission, went the lake yesterday and caught over 10 of them. I have a boat if you fish from shore you will need a light casting or spinning rod, worms is the best bait.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: RalphH on September 15, 2017, 07:31:41 AM
there are no catfish in the LMR or FV. What we have are brown bullhead.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: clarki on September 15, 2017, 09:00:18 AM
there are no catfish in the LMR or FV. What we have are brown bullhead.

I think I know what you are getting at, but bullheads are considered "catfish".
 
Catfish (ie. channels, blues) and bullheads, while different species, are members of the Family Ictaluridae. This is "a family of catfish native to North America, where they are important food fish and sometimes as a sport fish. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madtoms, channel catfish, and blue" (Wikipedia, not me)

Granted bullheads don't get the same size, food or sporting qualities as other species, they are still considered to be "catfish".


Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: clarki on September 15, 2017, 09:21:20 AM
I think your supposed to just throw them in the bush if you catch 1, lol, at least that's what I have seen done around there.

I have an affinity for bullheads and admittedly, at first, I was a little troubled by this comment. Then I did a little bit of reading😀 Bullheads are not native to Pacific drainages and "Nonnative predators, including Brown Bullhead, have been shown to reduce the abundance and diversity of native prey species in several Pacific Northwest rivers"  reference: https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=734
 
Interesting. Thanks for the re-set.
Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: KarateKick on September 15, 2017, 09:48:49 AM
I don't think I have ever caught a bullhead, and I am a bit curious about them.

Whenever an inexperienced person shows me their "bullhead" it's always a sculpin.  I am sure because catfish of any sort always have whiskers, and sculpins don't.

The type of catfish I caught as a child tasted great in black bean sauce.  I recall them being brown.  I guess I never got stung because uncle handled the fish.

There were times we got dozens upon dozens in one day (with tiny toy rods), and other times we got none.  Uncle claimed the government zapped them somehow :D, because they competed with more desirable fish.

Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: KarateKick on September 15, 2017, 09:53:53 AM
Karate kick
If you are wanting a high success, kid friendly venue....I take my kids to Pitt marsh. Google earth the area and before you get to Grant Narrows, turn right on the gravel road and park at the pipe gate.  Red and white bobber, medium split shot, #6 -8 hook and worm. You can catch catfish, bass, sunfish, crappies etc. Every pond or slough in that area has those fish. ....some have roadside access. Plus lots of wildlife to see.
In Burnaby ...deer lake has bass, sunfish, catfish, some trout and it is close with good access. I took a group of kids canoeing there and saw people fishing from the dock and several point in the southern shore. Worth a look. I took a small boat and floated around with my young son and we caught bass and sunfish on a bobber and worm.

As does Trout Lake in East Van.  Along with Sunfish, Crappie and Carp.
Again, bobber and worm or corn will get you action.

Hatzic lake in Mission, went the lake yesterday and caught over 10 of them. I have a boat if you fish from shore you will need a light casting or spinning rod, worms is the best bait.

Thank you so much! You guys are great.

Is Hayward Lake good for kids too?


Title: Re: Catfish
Post by: sbc hris on September 16, 2017, 11:53:55 AM
Thank you so much! You guys are great.

Is Hayward Lake good for kids too?

There's not much of a fishery in Hayward lake. I grew up fishing it. When the water levels are stable for years in a row the fishing can be OK, but since they started the renovations on the lower dam, they have been draining the lake fairly often, and for extented periods sometimes. This seems to have had an adverse affect on the ecosystem. Also, they stopped stocking it years ago which didn't help matters either. It's about the last place I would fish these days, especially with a kid.