Horned pout, chucklehead, butterball, yellow belly, wogger, paper skin, polly, wolly, wooly willow cat, mud cat. A bullhead by any other name still is a bullhead, a close relative of the white catfish. They’re easy to identify as bullheads, but distinguishing the three common species—brown, black, and yellow—isn’t easy. Their ranges overlap, there may be several stocks or genetic variations of each species, and they’ve been known to produce hybrids.
Black Bullhead—Probably the most commonly caught bullhead is the black bullhead, called “brown” bullhead by many fishermen because its coloration often is more olive-green, brown, or yellow than black. Biologists often use the pectoral spine to distinguish the bullhead species. Blacks have a smooth back edge on the pectoral spine, although brown and black hybrids may have a slight serration that catches the finger.
Blacks also are the smallest bullheads, yet the International Game Fish Association lists a mammoth 7-pound 7-ounce fish caught in 1993 from Mill Pond in Long Island, New York, while the National Freshwater Fishing Hall Of Fame lists an 8-pound 15-ounce fish from Sturgis Pond in Michigan in 1987 as the all-tackle world record. Of thousands of specimens sampled in Iowa, the largest black was a 15-incher that weighed almost two pounds. Of thousands of Ohio specimens, the largest was a 16.8-incher that weighed 2 pounds 12 ounces.
Black bullheads generally prefer shallower, softer bottom areas than yellow or brown bullheads, though in spring their habitats may overlap. Black bullheads may live eight or nine years, though three to four years is more typical. Blacks usually are eight to eleven inches long and weigh less than a pound.
Brown Bullhead—The brown bullhead has different habitat requirements than the black bullhead, though as we’ve said, the two species may inhabit the same backwater areas during spring. Brown bullheads dominate in bigger, deeper, clearer bodies of water with a harder bottom. Blacks dominate in shallower, more turbid waters with soft bottoms. Black and brown hybrids are common, and some populations may be almost entirely composed of hybrids.
Pure-strain brown bullheads are easy to distinguish when they’re distinctly mottled—dark blotches on a light background. The spotted bullhead, found only in parts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, has light blotches on a dark background. Browns average slightly larger than black bullheads and generally reach a larger maximum size. Of thousands of specimens sampled in Ohio, the largest was 18.8 inches long and weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces. Twenty-one-inch browns have been reported from Florida, where anglers occasionally take six- to eight-pound fish.
Like the black bullhead, the typical brown bullhead lives three or four years, measures eight to eleven inches, and weighs less than a pound. The official 5-pound 8-ounce record brown bullhead was taken from Veal Pond, Georgia, in 1975.
