FTF goes to Ol'Fogies!
Many times as a child I had gone bullhead fishing at the dam. So I decided to look up some info on this fish.
The bullhead catfish is a common member of the catfish family and is good eating. It is mostly found in coastal rivers, ponds, and reservoirs. Compared to other catfish species it is relatively small. Most weigh less than one pound when mature and have a smooth skin with very small scales.
Some of the more common names are mud cats, river cats and barbottes. Mud cat is quite appropriate since the bullhead is a bottom feeder and will eat snails and vegetation. As I think back to our dam fishing times it was always in the early evening which would be the time that the bullheads would come out to feed.
Most wildlife agencies place no limit on the amount of bullheads one can catch because they are so plentiful. They are an easy fish to catch and are pretty good eating. That would certainly explain how we were able to catch so many fish in a relatively short period of time.
We were never allowed to take the fish off the hook. The reason for that was the bullheads have needlelike teeth with strong jaws. The barbs on a bullhead can inject a poison and sting for hours.
There is a camoed pill bottle hanging around a little below belt height waiting to get caught. Quite obvious at the right angle. Hmmm, are you an angler?