spawning catfish - Pond Boss Forum

What is the best method to get channel and blue catfish to spawn in a pond.

I know that channels like large hollow logs, I believe most cats do. I am however unsure of what depth to place the logs. I just aquired a very nice hollow log from one of the neighbors and would like to find out the best depth so I can place it this weekend.

I got an idea yesterday for a catfish structure, built it and put it in 4' of water at the pond. It's made from 10" perforated drain tile, 2 bricks, 1 rock and 12/2 with ground NM cable stripped out of the insulation (for tying on the weights). I had all this lying around the garage and it took about 10 minutes to build and install. Heres a picture...
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bandtri...61b.jpg&.src=ph

I hope this will give the cats another place to spawn, along with the large hollow log I have just aquired. I have only had 2 catfish from successfull spawns in a sunken trash can, 1 a channel and the other an albino channel. Anyone have some other suitable catfish structure ideas?

lildumper, how long should the tube be and does one end need to be closed?

What other fish do you have in your pond? You need predators or you will have more catfish than you'll ever want.

Norm, I used a 3' piece with both ends open. It's an experiment I guess, not knowing for sure if the open or closed end works best. The trash can must have worked since a couple of years ago I did get some fry, of which I only saw 2 survivors at feed time. The can may have silted in and or collapsed by now, or they are spawing and being eaten. I will be working on some sort of nursey for around the area of this structure next, maybe some anacharis since the triploids are over 3' there diet may have changed enough not to bother it. Anyone with ideas on that?

Brian, I have an excellent forage base of bg, hybrids, crappie and redear and periodic 40lb additions of fatheads.. also have some great lmb of various sizes. I caught one 3lb 14 oz two weeks ago and saw another much larger the other day. I have about 25-30 8-10lb channels and 3-4 flatheads from 10-14lbs but I would like to get the cats to spawn for some great table size fare in the 1.5lb range. I'm not at all worried about the cats taking over since we will be tripling the size of the pond this year. I can always cull some when needed. I am a bass fisherman at heart, but man can those big cats fight on a micro light spinner. As long as I see fish of varying size, with some hogs, I'm happy with the production. $\:\)$

Here's a post by jbrockery (scott)

Quote:

Channel cats and blue cats are cavity spawners rather than nest spawner. IF you want them to spawn you should provide containers just big enough for each spawning pair with an opening just wide enough for one to go through at a time. Place them 1 to 10 yards appart in 1 to 2.5 feet of water with the opening facing the center of the pond.
Bullhead and white catfish, on the other hand, are nest spawners. I don't know the kind of nests they use but it's not like you want them spawning anyways.
-Scott

Here's the link to the thread:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=000655

Thanks Ric, I hadn't seen that one yet.

Thanks for the replies I'm thinking about sinking a couple of trash cans. Do the trash cans or other contaners need sand or rocks in them or can catfish spawn on hard plastic?

HI I didn't think I would be able to get a spawn in my 1/3+ acre pond but I sank 2 - 12ft long hollowed out logs (courtesy of carpenter ants!) along with several pieces of 1' by 2' by 8 ft long vent ducting that I removed during a remolding project. Most of my cats are 5 pounds plus stocked 3 years ago but this year I have caught several 8-10 inch cats so I guess I did get a spawn. Most of the structure was put in 4 ft deep water.

Bob