When does hardhead bite slow down?

[southern151]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

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.

You have an English version of this?!

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!

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by southern151

You have an English version of this?!

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!

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.