Have you been wondering why catfish thrives even in the rivers and lakes where there are many other fish species? It is because catfish hardly overlook anything that can be food, even other catfish and crappies.
Will Catfish Eat Other Catfish and Crappie?
There are so many catfish species; the records indicate that the number of catfish species has exceeded three thousand. Some catfish such as the Mekong catfish grow really big, and then there are the quite regular flatheads and channel catfish which are of average size. In the wild, a Mekong catfish will not hesitate to eat any channel or flathead catfish it can catch.
This means it is possible to find bigger catfish species preying on the smaller ones. Catfish are quite invasive; they have also shown a degree of aggression towards other fish in rivers and lakes. Most times, this aggressive behavior is expressed in a bid to eat the smaller fish and not to scare it away.
There are also instances where anglers may have to use pieces of catfish as lures for other catfish. This can happen when some of the catfish the angler has caught earlier die. If this happens, instead of throwing the fish away, it can be cut up and used as bait. This approach works, according to the anglers.
Regarding crappies, they are smaller than channel or flathead catfish. An average crappie weighs about three lbs., so it won’t be difficult for the adult catfish to eat the crappies up as a meal.
Raising catfish with other fish species such as crappies in the same pond is a game of chance. You may need to remove the catfish after a while when they seem to be growing much bigger than the crappies. The predatory nature of the catfish will set in before long, and the other fish species in the pond will suffer if they are much smaller.
As catfish grow into adults, their appetite increases, this is one of the reasons the catfish become scavengers. Considering that many catfish species are bottom feeders and only come out under cover of the night, at this time the fish is hungry and ready to eat anything that moves if it can fit in the catfish’s mouth.
Crappies have also been used as bait for catfish. When they are cut up into smaller pieces, the scent of flesh in the river will attract catfish to the anglers hook. In particular, anglers in search of the flathead catfish can try using crappies as bait. The flatheads are known to be swift and very interested in smaller fish if they are in the river; there is a high chance that a flathead will bite your crappie bait.
Catfish can also hinder the population of crappies in rivers; this happens when they find schools of newly hatched crappies and feed on them.
In conclusion, it should be known that catfish is best raised by introducing the batch of catfish which are of the same size into a pond. If you introduce adult catfish in ponds with smaller catfish, there is likely going to be some predatory behavior putting the smaller fish at risk.
