catfish burrowing

[dsmith]

Ok, I have a question. Mc had mentioned about catfish burying theirselves when a tank dries up. The tank at Coleman has caught quite a bit of water. Dennis and I can't figure out why that happened as other places are drying up. But it did. Dennis' aunts boyfriend said there ought to be some big cats in there. He knows it dried up, he has fished it. He told about them burying and hibernating. We just find that hard to believe. So Dennis saw an old farmer he knows the other day and asked him about it. He said that one time he had a tank that dried up. He took a bulldozer out there and dug up a lot of huge huge cats.
So how do they live if they are buryed??? Can't breathe in that mud. And if the mud dries completely up, will they still live? How long will they survive like that? We are tempted to go fish it just to see. But we can't right now as it is dove season followed by deer season. Not a good idea to go as they are all big into hunting.

[daveedka]

I've heard of this but not ever studied it to find out how it actually works. I know thewre are some fish that can be transported in boxes without water and survive just fine, I also know that below the dry dirt there is always wet mud somewhere, but in my mind I can't see them lasting too long. I'll have to read up on it and see what I can find out.
Dave

[mastercatter]

Not sure how long they can survive like that but I do know that they can for several months at a time. Have seen it many times, over and over, down at the ranch. Do know that they can live for hours laying on a bank out of water. Also know that they will live way longer if the skin is kept moist and not permitted to dry any. Carp can do the same also. Guess the key is to keep the outter layer wet???