Good luck to all there. I’ve many friends in the area. Stay safe. My aunt and uncle in Bradenton have sustained little damage and no power outage. I’m very surprised after all the bad things I’ve seen on the news. I’m not sure about other friends in the area. Hoping for the best.
On the bright side. Maybe the hurricane will pull out all the poisons dumped into Tampa Bay diluting them into the gulf and beyond. Then the fishing might rebound.

Hi,
Anyone know about sailfin catfish slime being a hallucinogen?

I fished there many times and never caught one or never seen one caught. I haven’t fished lots at nights but still some. Dad and I used to catch them in the surf on Panama City Beach.

I did catch a large one near Annibel Island.
Some guy told me that teens catch them. Scrape off a bit of mucus with their fingernails. Then they suck the mucus off their nails and it makes them higher than a kite. Hallucinations he claimed. I never heard of that. If it’s true the catfish will soon be endangered.

I never tried it myself.

I guess that’s why the groupers have a taste for them.😎😎😎

I imagine too much fertilizer.
I guess influenced by tides and wind. One day it’s there the next day it might be gone. Really a mess when it washes up on the beach.

Yes. I’ve encountered there before in Panama City and Fort Walton and it is a mess. No one wants to swim in it and you can’t hardly fish in it.

I guess the predators might like it as they can hide and stalk their dinner.

Oh. That makes since. They aren’t going to play with the Groupers. I believe I’ve hooked up with a couple of big grouper at night while fishing with cut bait. I didn’t land them as they were very powerful. But again fun to catch. I’m glad I only use steel circle hooks with no barb.

Sometimes I fish the beaches at Panama City. I always catch lady fish there.

I’ve caught sailfin catfish off the beach too. I’m surprised I’ve not seen them caught at Skyway. Fun to catch. Not good to eat. I guess.

Strange. I’d think they’d be thick there. Just a coincidence.

Its weird I’ve never caught a lady fish there. Or any salt water cats on bottom. You’d think they’re be all around.

Probably much heavier equipment than I use. I was fishing for mackerel.

Two years ago a huge tarpon ate my Spanish mackerel as I was bringing it in. Then raced jumping between the bridges and finally wrapping himself around the new Sunshine Skyway Bridge piers. Then of course he broke the line. But it was sure fun while it lasted. I watched him come out of the shadows under the fishing bridge and inhale the 14 inch mackerel!
One of my best experiences. I’d guess you’d need a boat to follow behind the tarpon. It was a thrill.

A fun fish to catch for sure. They are on my bucket list.

The small fish were probably the cichlids. That’s exactly what they did with them. Dried then eaten.

Nile perch were introduced into Lake Victoria as a potential food source.

They became an invasive species there and decimated the native fish species endemic to the lake.

Many cichlids were eaten to their extinction. The cichlids there were an important native food source for the people living around the lake. As the native fish were decimated by the Nile perch, (which grew rapidly to giant sizes), both the Nile perch and the people living there starved.

Aquarists throughout the world have preserved many of the cichlid species wiped out by the Nile perch with the hope of reintroduction some day.

I will be back to there to fish in October. PM me if you’d like to go fishing.