I did two very early stockings of Channel Cats before I put any 3" LMB in the pond. 30 at first followed a few months later by 25 more. They grew quickly.Probably were 14" in two years. I caught and kept maybe 5 over the 7 years since we stocked them. Last year I kept just one that was getting close to two feet long. I probably caught another 5 or six that were released, all similar size. The last three years, I had LOADS of japanese beetles during summer which I trapped and every night would throw hundreds into the pond. Along with the BG the LMB and even the grass carp, I could see easily over a dozen catfish mouths greedily feeding on the beetles every night-too many to count really. No Japanese beetles this year, so I have been feeding the fish small floating pellets. The thing is, after several weeks of doing this I NEVER see any more than two catfish feeding at the surface. Are only two acclimated to surface feeding and coming close to the dock, and the others are bottom feeders? Or have most of my catfish disappeared? I am the only person who fishes it. I suppose other people could sneak in and fish but I have never seen any evidence of it. We have a driveway alarm and had a trail camera up for a while. I should still have a lot more CC than I am seeing. Thoughts? Theories? SWAGs?
