Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait I'm sold on the Cloverleaf trap

If I'm culling smaller fish to reduce numbers, I'll check mine every 20 minutes or so, remove what I don't want to keep and return the rest.

If I'm surveying sizes, I'll let one trap soak for an hour, and the other about 30 minutes. That way I feel like the short run gives me a better idea of the smaller populations and the longer soak shows me more larger fish as the smaller ones do seem to find their exit if left too long.

Definitely not an exact science, but it does seem to give me a better idea of what I've got. I'll usually set them relatively close to each other around the feeding & main spawning area, which is also where the most cover is located.

Clay, you're absolutely right about not catching catfish in a cloverleaf. I tried my dangdest to trap BH when I thought I should have fry. Never saw a single fry or YOY, nor did the traps catch one. I guess they all became forage. The smallest I see around feeding time is about 8".