Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Estimated age of CC?

I caught a CC from the pond yesterday on a 5" Floating Silver Rapala, using 6# test line it was 27"-27.5" long and weighed 10.33#.

I stocked 50 6"-9" CC yearly in the Spring for the last 4 years. The previous 3 years the pond was approx. 1/3 to 1/2 ac, with LMB, BG and the CC. FHM and GS were stocked yearly as well, with pellets dispersed 2x day with the exception of last year, when no supplemental feeding was done. There is/was minimal vegetation in the pond, <10%. In Sept 2007, approx. 300 crayfish were added as well. When the pond was renovated last year there were no signs of crayfish in the pond. In the previous years, I used 1/8" and 1/4" generic food from the feed store. THis year I'm feeding Aquamax 500 and will be switching to a blend of 500/600 in a month.

I have noticed that by the Fall, the CC that were stocked in the Spring will be 16"-18" long. This year I clipped off the adiose fin of the CC that were stocked so I can identify them, and see if the CC are reproducing in the pond.

With that information, is there any estimation of how old that catfish was? I did transfer 4 CC when the pond was renovated from the holding pond to the new pond that were larger than I could grab with one hand, and this one wasn't that big.

esshup, FWIW that's about the average size that my original stockers (who went in at 6"-9" in 2003) are this year. They have been fed pellets every year, but with an emphasis on minimizing CC growth for the last 3 years or so.

Based on my results (YMMV) I would guess it is one of the older stockers you palced, not one of the 4 larger transfers.

When fed, CC grow incredibly fast! I think Theo is right, it was probably one of your original fingerling stockers.

Thanks guys. It'll be interesting to see what the trotline comes up with in a few days. I tried rod-n-reel and could only catch the newly stocked CC. I know that I need to clean out some of the bigger CC and it's becoming a challenge!

Harvesting the larger CC's is a problem I've seen posted on this site more than once.

I've been eyin' those catfish traps that are in some of the net suppliers' catalogs. If I can't catch them, maybe that's the way to go? At least I can release the smaller ones without making them hook shy. I figure 5/0 circle hooks on the trot line with larger baits will keep the little ones off the hooks.