I caught a couple dozen small bullheads (4″ or so) in one of my minnow traps and have been using them with about a 5/0 circle hook. Caught a nice channel the other day that just hammered that little bullhead. The ones I have are really fiesty and stay alive for a long time. They don’t take up much room in my bait tank and I think they will be easy to maintain. I’d recommend giving them a shot. I rig one rod with a big bullie and the other with one of the small ones on a circle hook.
July 27, 2005 at 5:00 am
#375042
When you first catch the bullheads they are full of food (minnows, algae, etc) from the lake you caught them from. It is amazing how much algae and scum that they will throw up. They seem to regurgitate all that crud as soon as you throw them in your tank. After I catch them, I leave them in a separate bucket for about 24 to 36 hours until they have had a chance to clean themselves out. I have to change the water in the bucket about every 12 hours or so or they will croak so that part is kind of a pain but it beats wrecking a power filter. After they have cleaned themselves out then I have never had any problems with them in the tank. If you just throw them in your tank right after you catch them they will gum up your filter within a few hours. The first time I had it happen I had to take apart my aquarium power filter and completely clean it. I learned my lesson – now they get quarantined until they are cleaned out.
