When does hardhead bite slow down?
 

When in the fall does the hardhead bite slow down?

We need to schedule a study when hardheads are very easy to catch, and we're trying to squeeze it in this year before the bite slows in the fall.

If you're wondering, "What the heck?" We did a study earlier this summer showing that magnetic hooks can decrease the catch rate of hardhead catfish. These results hinted that the outcome depends on whether or not there is moving water, so we have designed a follow-up study where moving water is an explicit experimental variable.

when the fronts start passing through and the water cools down

MathGeek, any stall at Heberts you can 2000 of them a day

or the cleaning station at cal point...

I don't think it ever slows down.

Throw a shrimp under a cork about 3' down.

Catch all you want at most any cleaning table along Hwy 56 lower Terrebonne parish. They hear the electric knives.

Granted probably not the most random sample for scientific study.

Yes, this is great advice, and we completed the first study at Heberts earlier this summer. But to test the "moving water" hypothesis, we need a location where fishing is allowed and there is reliable water movement. Bobbylynn's is actually a better location in this regard, and we have some other good locations also, but we're working to schedule the trip at a time when they are still readily biting, because we're hoping to catch 100 fish in moving water and 100 fish in still water. Our catch rates were awesome at Heberts in June.

We're trying to decide between an early Sep or a late Sep/early Oct window to complete the study with still and moving water.

I've never been to Cocodrie, but it looks from the aerial photo that there should be regular rising, falling, and slack tides along that bayou that parallels Hwy 56. Is this what you have observed?

I'd say grand isle is the hard head capital of the world! Hate them damn things! We fileted one and threw it back......it swam away!!! I swear they are like cockroaches!

Yeah they are usually pretty thick at the docks by sand dollar and that is definitely a moving water situation

Random thoughts from a sting survivor
 

I always bring a bat and play hard-head homerun. No more than three swings and I can separate the head from the body. Remove hook from mouth and throw back in water. All without being stung.

I once posted a video on youtube called hard-head homerun and it didn't go over well.

But to answer your question when it gets cold.

id like to see that vid. link please..cant find it

I rip gills out of every gafttop and hardhead i catch

I can appreciate the reasons why, but I would politely request folks to release the gafftops alive, because they make quite good eating and also provide great sport for young enthusiastic anglers. There is some disappointment when we realize that all that pulling is from a gafftop rather than a redfish when the fish reaches the net, but we throw 'em in the cooler just the same, and 10-15 gafftops in the 4-7 lb range make for a few good meals. It's a much better experience than getting skunked. When the next LA Records are published I think my son and I will likely own three of the top ten spots in the gafftop records, including my son in 3rd place unless someone else bumps him down this year.

Hardheads are a much lower level of angling experience, but their abundance, combined with the known electroreception in catfish and the lack of knowledge regarding magnetic deterrence in teleosts (bony fish) provide an opportunity for an interesting research project.

Noaa is gonna start a 2 fish per person limit. Open only in the winter months.

You have an English version of this?!:rotfl:

BTW, I think it's great that you get to spend the amount of time you do with your kids in the name of science. Teaching from two angles is certainly admirable!;)

MG, I git a question for ya.........What are the rocks in Redfishs foreheads for?

I took it down within 3 days. It got hot real quick. Lots of people that didn't understand to say the least.

Electroreception: Many species of fish, including catfish, are known to be able to detect electric fields. In some cases, the detection of electric fields is used to detect nerve impulses in prey species and it assists in locating prey. In some cases, the ability to detect electromagnetic fields, combined with the ability to generate larger fields than produced by ordinary nerve impulses (known as electrogeneration) may be used to assist some species in locating mates.

In other cases, fish may combine electroreception in salt water to detect magnetic fields. The law of electromagnet induction tells us that an electric field is induced by a conductor (salt water) moving in a magnetic field. Some fishes with the most sensitive electroreception may be able to detect the earth's magnetic field this way.

Several scientists have shown that some elasmobranches (sharks and rays) are deterred from biting magnetic hooks, presumably because their sensitive electroreception is able to detect the magnetic field. But these scientists have opined that magnetic hooks will not deter teleost fishes (bony fishes, which includes most species of commercial and recreational interest) from biting because they lack sufficiently sensitive electroreception. Whether or not bony fishes have sufficiently sensitive electroreception to be deterred by magnetic hooks is the question we are working on. The hardhead catfish simply combines a number of features to be a convenient test species.

The wiki article on otoliths is pretty good:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otolith

I'm with Corey on this one.......English dude!

That's what I figured......just seeing if you knew. Thanks!

Spicers cleaning table has thousands and it is on Kelso so it has moving water

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mathgeek, find a rig that has living quarters. there will be plenty of hardheads. I guess they throw out food scraps or something. you will catch lunkers there.

Bet I could make a few million selling magnetic hooks. To the pilgrims.

"Reduces hardhead bites by 99%!! only 7.99 for a pack of 4"

It's not that effective. Our preliminary study showed the magnetic hooks did not reduce the hardhead catch at all in still water. In moving water, 33 hardheads were caught on the non-magnetic control and 9 hardheads were caught on the magnetic hooks. So there might be a significant reduction in the hardhead catch rate, but it's definitely not capable of reducing the hardhead catch rate to zero. And the magnets are a couple of bucks each.

If the magnetic hooks significantly reduce the catch of gafftops also, they might be attractive to folks running drum trot lines where every gafftop is a missed opportunity at a drum. But other than this, the main application is reducing shark bycatch rates in waters with sharks.

Didn't really think 99% rate. Just kiddin around. People would buy them because they want the latest and greatest.

I know I am going to get stomped on for this because I am an outsider but here goes.

Why the hate? Is it really that bad? If you were blind and did not know what was on the end of the line, would it matter what fish was fighting you?

I just don't understand the issue with having an abundance of willing fish that are edible and reproduce themselves. Enlighten me.

Here is the part that is going to make some of you mad. If I was to see someone killing fish and throwing them back this is what would happen.

1. Violation for wanton waste of fish or game....1600.00 fine.

2. Violation for littering........1100.00 fine.

3. Violation for introducing a biological pollutant to a stream, lake, or waterway...1500 fine.

4. Siezure of all fishing tackle, gear, rods, reels etc, including boat and the truck you used to tow it to the water. Court fees of about 250.00 and a storage fee to impound the boat, trailer, and truck until trial.

The Judge would whittle this down a bit, but at the end of the day you would be out 2-5 grand and my kids could swim in the creek without drinking rotted fish guts. They might even get to go fishing later and catch something. The judge can't do anything about siezures, they are based on whether or not you are convicted.

You would also lose your fishing license for a year and a guide license for life.

Ok tear me up, crazy enviroweird Kalifornia bunny hugger here. Really I am as conservative as they come, I just cannot stand waste .

I feel you. But walk a mile in our shoes before getting too judgmental.

Unhook 100 hardheads and then tell us about how happy you are to be catching them. Eventually, you'll get finned by one. Then tell us how happy you are to be catching them.

Then why don't you skin, fillet, prepare and eat a few. Then tell us how happy you are to be catching them.

And I think I'm actually pretty positive on sea catfish compared with most inshore anglers. There are times when I've been willing to skin and fillet them. There flavor is a bit strong, but fried and put in po-boys with enough tobasco, horseradish, and mustard, they are pretty good.

If there is ever a famine, I doubt I'll starve to death if I can make it to a brackish bayou or waterway with a fishing pole.

But whatever their redeeming qualities, hardheads are nuisance bait stealers most of the time when targeting other species. They max out at about 2 lbs. They can work their way through $20 of cracked crab pretty quickly when we are targeting bull redfish.

Even when they can't swallow the bait, they are down there farting around with it. My son caught an 8" long hardhead using a 12" striped mullet for bait. What was that hardhead thinking?

Math......you forgot about having to clean up the slim and "poop" from the fish. Also having to wash your hands every time you have to touch one of them.

In Louisiana.....throwing back a dead catfish in not pollution or waste. It is feeding the crabs or other fish that eat them.

Hardheads are evil little badtards. Especially when they are about 4" long

I was spanking them Friday night! Initially It took me 7-8 swings to separate head from body. After I found the rhythm, 4 swings max. 3" hardheads, 13" hardheads, all the same. Anything on bottom in 6 foot of water or deeper was = Hardhead or Gaffstop Friday night.......Devils!