We have a new 1/3 acre pond located in ID. Deepest point is 13.5 ft with average depth of 8-9 feet.
The pond was dug last summer, and was full by winter. Water clarity is pretty good, but the level is starting to drop a little probably due to evaporation and wind.
We would now like to stock CC and Rosy Red minnows, but have never had fish before. I'm kind of at a loss of how many of each to get. The minnows are sold in either lots of 500 or 1000.....seems like a lot of fish! CC are sold as each, or increments of 25.
Suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!
Are you planning on feeding the CC? They do well on inexpensive grain based pellets. If you stock the FHM (Rosy are the pink strain of FHM) first and wait a couple months before stocking the CC, IMO 1000 will be enough if you have proper spawning habitat in place.
IMO number of CC to stock depends on whether you will be feeding, aerating, regular harvest, etc.
Not a pro...just my 1 cent
Thanks for your input. We plan to feed the CC initially, but hope there will be enough organic matter/insects eventually to sustain them.
I do plan on adding aeration later this year/next year via a waterfall
IME CC are predators. They will wipe out the FHM fairly quickly. Without supplemental feeding or adequate substantial sized sustaining forage, they could stunt, especially if they happen to reproduce. IMO you might want to consider stocking GSH along with you FHM (GSH prefer grassy spawning habitat). Are you planning to harvest your CC at 2 to 3 pounds and ladder stock replacements?
Again, I'm not a pro...just giving you my experience
No, we weren't planning on harvesting that soon. I read it takes 5 years for them to reproduce....
Yes, we looked into getting GSH as well! Our county in ID does not allow live bait for fishing, so minnow purchases are limited to online. Haven't found a retailer for GSH yet.
Channel catfish are very adaptable to a variety of environments. If you stock them lightly they will get bigger faster but will also be somewhat harder to catch.. if you stock them heavier you can harvest regularly as they get bigger to keep the population in check and their growth rates high. If you ever see a fish that isn’t healthy and fat than your balance is off and you need to harvest more fish. Fortunately channels don’t tend to over populate and can tolerate high density of fish.
Channels are one of my favorite fish in my pond and are by far the largest with lots of high protein supplemental feeding and stocking lots of forage fish I have about 8-12 CC in the 15-20 pound range in my 1 acre pond.. I have LMB, HSB, YP, GSH, FHM, Female BC, Male WC, RES, BG lolol. But they are just a variety of types of forage fish for the catfish. Seeing how big I can get my CCs is one of the main focuses of my pond. On top of the 150-200 bucks a year in Aquamax MVP and 500 and the 150 pounds of FHM and GSH I stock each ear as additional forage has gave me incredible growth rate in these fish and they are only 8-10 years old. Their growth has slowed the last couple years but every single year I break the previous years record still!
My strategy is keep the CC stocked very lightly so they have ample food opportunity. If I catch a catfish under 15 pounds it is harvested every time. Regardless if you want just a few nice trophies or lots of fish for lots of action CC will adept well to the environment. I think about 100 catfish would be the top end(if you are feeding even less if you aren’t) for a 1/3 of and acre unless you plan on harvesting within the first year or two. Some ppl like to stock a class of fish every year or two if they are consistently harvesting. But whatever your goals are you need to consider more types of forage fish. If you can’t get Shiners in your area what species of sun fish can you get? You can buy different species online. Stock your fat head minnows and other forage species first let them get established unless you can get very small CC in the 2-3 inch range.. they grow so fast a lot of times 5-7 inches is the smallest and they are already eating small fish.
If you don’t plan on continuing to feed(which I recommend against if possible) than getting your forage fish established is critical.
dsimonl,
Check with Anderson fish farm, they may be able to help you with Golden Shiners:
http://www.andersonminnows.com/