Catfish growth rates

[davelumb]

I know it's a variable depending on lots of factors but what sort of growth rates can be expected in a water with plenty of food fish? For example what might a 16 pounder get to in six years?

Asking for a friend.

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

I think the availability of boilies is very important but I know of a river/marina cat thats over 80.
Obviously in our temps growth will be greatly reduced compared to Europe etc but with a good food supply I would make a guess from knowing what other fish have put on that your 16 will be over 40, 6 years later. Some individuals will be faster growers than others just like with other species.

Cheers, Alan

[davelumb]

I think the availability of boilies is very important but I know of a river/marina cat thats over 80.
Obviously in our temps growth will be greatly reduced compared to Europe etc but with a good food supply I would make a guess from knowing what other fish have put on that your 16 will be over 40, 6 years later. Some individuals will be faster growers than others just like with other species.

Cheers, Alan

Ta.

[Bob Watson]

I know it's a variable depending on lots of factors but what sort of growth rates can be expected in a water with plenty of food fish? For example what might a 16 pounder get to in six years?

Asking for a friend.

Tell me which water and I'll let you know exactly............................



...............................after I've caught it

[suffolk si]

My local complex stocked them at 5-10 lb about twelve or thirteen years ago I think ,I was catching lots of them at 30-40lb about five years ago , they now go to 60 ish. Depends on availability of food too as others said I guess

[Mike J]

How long do they live?
No good packing on weight if they have a short lifespan.

I remember the Wilstone record, that was 50+ but a tiddler when it went in, its never turned up since but if they live for a long time it could be a very serious fish by now.


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[davelumb]

They seem to live a long time if those in Claydon are any guide. But the weights seemed to plateau.

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

How long do they live?
No good packing on weight if they have a short lifespan.

I remember the Wilstone record, that was 50+ but a tiddler when it went in, its never turned up since but if they live for a long time it could be a very serious fish by now.


.

Temperatures are always so critical for spawning and growth.
Generally the slower a fish grows, the longer they live. This is quite a clever trick by nature to give the particular species a chance to succeed within its environment.
Carp for example are at the northern end of their distribution in the uk, requiring a sustained water temperature of around 20 degrees to spawn, this means most years are not successful and so extended life spans increase the chances of success simply by spawning over more years as like us, they cant rely on the English summer. Fish can acclimatise over generations meaning northern populations can spawn as early as fish further south but success will be lower.
Also, for a fish such as a carp to have a chance of ensuring that it will successfully pass its genetic code on it may have to statistically produce say 5,000,000 eggs, the larger a fish the more eggs they can produce which is obvious, so if a fish's growth is restricted by temperatures not being at an optimum then they cannot easily produce the numbers of eggs required so again to offset this, life expectancy increases.
I forget what are ideal spawning temperatures are for catfish but I would guess a degree or two higher than carp and of course we know catfish grow far more slowly than their European counterparts.
Carp in this country have been known to live over 50 and I'm sure I read that in Norway a fish lived to 90, so going by that it could easily be assumed that as catfish are further from ideal conditions than even carp in the UK, that a life expectancy beyond that of carp is possible, so fish living to 70 of more years could realistic.
The recent run of warm/hot summers in the UK is a promising sign for anglers in this country who want to go into battle with England's largest and possibly oldest course fish.

Cheers, Alan

[Neville Fickling]

5 lb a year is likely once they get to double figures

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

5 lb a year is likely once they get to double figures

Have you not got a percentage figure, Nev as 5lb on a double is a big gain but on a 50 is reasonable.

Cheers, Alan

[Nige Johns]

I know it's a variable depending on lots of factors but what sort of growth rates can be expected in a water with plenty of food fish? For example what might a 16 pounder get to in six years?

Asking for a friend.

Won’t grow that big in ya pond

[davelumb]

I know it's a variable depending on lots of factors but what sort of growth rates can be expected in a water with plenty of food fish? For example what might a 16 pounder get to in six years?

Asking for a friend.

Won’t grow that big in ya pond

[Mike J]

Imagine a fish packing in 5lb per year for how long? The Wilstone record had been in there a long time and if it reproduced, as those in Marsworth seem to have done, who knows what size they could be given the plentiful supply of suitable food those two waters have?

The grapevine suggested catfish were in a certain river I pike fish, I contacted the EA asking what would they want me to do if I caught one. Their reply indicated they knew they were in there, and no I haven't caught one, yet.
The Thames has them and some of those caught have been really big according to various reports, another place with a plentiful supply of food.

.

[muncherpike]

The Wilstone record cat now resides in Tring museum I believe.

[Mike J]

The Wilstone record cat now resides in Tring museum I believe.

Thats interesting, I understood the fish went back safely so I wonder how it ended up in Tring.

Id fished it before and after its capture and in the many hundreds of days I never caught or heard of a catfish being caught. It was only in bankside conversations with Charlie Double did I learn catfish had been put in both there and Marsworth.

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[cookiesdaughtersdad]

The big cat that lives in the river near me has gone from 50 to 80 in 15 years!

Cheers, Alan

[Mike F]

Just going off topic, how do catfish fare with low DO levels in the summer months. Seeing as people fish for them on the continent in blisteringly hot conditions, id assume they're quite hardy fish?

[Neville Fickling]

5 lb a year is likely once they get to double figures

Have you not got a percentage figure, Nev as 5lb on a double is a big gain but on a 50 is reasonable.

Cheers, Alan

Cats can die in oxygen crash’s but when we had ours we recovered a 40 which was hanging on so they are pretty hardy. Sorry I can’t work in percentages 5 lb would be an average. Bit like the Mask pike went from 12 to 20. Then stayed at 20 the following year. Average growth 6 lb pa

[Mike J]

Just going off topic, how do catfish fare with low DO levels in the summer months. Seeing as people fish for them on the continent in blisteringly hot conditions, id assume they're quite hardy fish?

On the high dam of Orellana in Estramadura Spain you can look down and watch the individual big catfish actively hunting the shallows in really scorching temperatures far higher than anything we experience in this country.

For those interested in catfish I watched this happening while further long the dam there were shoals of carp and fish similar to rudd which the catfish ignored.

.

[Roger5]

Just going off topic, how do catfish fare with low DO levels in the summer months. Seeing as people fish for them on the continent in blisteringly hot conditions, id assume they're quite hardy fish?

On the high dam of Orellana in Estramadura Spain you can look down and watch the individual big catfish actively hunting the shallows in really scorching temperatures, far higher than anything we experience in this country.

For those interested in catfish I watched this happening while further long the dam there were shoals of carp and fish similar to rudd which the catfish ignored.

So what do you reckon they were hunting for Mike ?