I am a newbie to pond management. I have a 6 acre pond on my property I recently purchased 3 years ago. It appears to be overstocked with LMB. Fishing for 3 years, my kids have caught one 5-lb bass and thousands of bass 7"-10" long. We have fished for catfish many times, never caught a single catfish.

I want to establish catfish for my kids to "catch dinner".

How can I establish catfish in the pond?

Most catfish available to purchase are 5-7" Channel Catfish

Will the bass eat them?....please note bass size again...
Do I need to take bass out? If so, what is the best method?

Any help / input would be appreciated

Establishing Catfish in a bass heavy pond is hard. I would go more the put and take route. Adding larger Catfish as eatable sizes are removed. Stocking 1/2lb would be a good start. Reducing LMB numbers may cause your remaining bass to gain size and may prey on larger Catfish. Feeding your Catfish would be important. What other fish are in the pond ?

Yes, the bass will eat them. Catch as many bass as possible before trying to stock your cats, and keep in mind that they might be eaten

Other fish? LMB and bluegill are all that has ever been caught.

I know you told me.....but will 10" bass eat a 6" catfish?

Welcome Stitch, I'd say if the prey fish will fit in the mouth of the predator then it's game on. In other words, if the prey's largest solid girth is smaller than the mouth gape of the predator, the predator would, at least, try to eat him. I think the 10" LMB/6" CC scenario is on the line and hard to speculate what damage would be done to the CC population. However, it would not take too many three pounders (or larger)to put the hammer on a bunch of 6" CC.

Bet it'll try.

An ideal prey fish is 1/3 of the predator's length. Obviously, we've all seen plenty of exceptions.

I would think a 6" CC would be safe around a 10" LMB.

You should call around to Hatcheries (or fish farms) and see what they have to offer you for buying larger CC. I from time to time pick up some about 1# cats for anywhere from a $1 to a $1.50 per fish. In a pond with Bream you Food conversion rate will be lower since other species than CC will take to the food. I would think we could say probably a FCR in the 2.5 range which would mean 1/20th of a 50# bag of Fish food to raise the fish to 1#. Say $20 for a 50# bag of food would end result a $1 per pound cost. I have a standing deal right now for 500 fish every fall if I want them for a $1.50 per fish. This is to restock the pond I use for the disadvantaged kids fishing event.

If I was in Mississippi I'd run 25 (or as many as you legally can) hook trottlines and collect as many 14-16" catfish as possible near the prespawn...you'll easily catch over 200 fish in that range in a week for little to no $ investment. Transfer those to your pond and thin the smaller bass by any means possible

When I was in Columbus, Ms last year it seemed there were plenty of hatcheries and fish farms in the area and the rivers looked well suited to trot lining

Chunk a few 5# catfish in there to thin your small bass a little

What about Hybrid or Blue Cats?

Me and my kids took 100 of the bass out the last 3 days. Was told by a "pond expert" that I need to get at least 400 out of the pond.....

I am wide open on type of catfish......just want to spend a bunch of money catfish and have them gobbled up by bass. Most of the bass we caught were in the 8-10" range.......struggling with the thought of these bass eating 5"-8" catfish. FYI, there are lots of places to hide in this lake.....

Maybe the best route is to go with the "trotline" fish method and see what happens....

Removing 300-400 bass is a good start. If almost all the bass are 8"-10" then stocking 5"-8" CC will allow many to survive especially if the CC are closer to 7"-8" long. Check with your fish seller as to specific size of the CC. Look for and buy only those closer to 7"-8".

Let us know if you can catch bass on a trout line and how you do it. I suspect your catch rate will be low. Best way to catch bass is to use small live fish hooked in the mouth or behind the dorsal fin and under a small slender bobber.

+1 As you remove a lot of LMB, those that remain could get a boost in available forage and start growing faster. IMO, if you are going to add the catfish, the sooner the better.

With that many small Bass you will probably find you have some Trophy size LMB that eat the smaller Bass as prey. The largest LMB I ever had on my line was in a pond similar. I had hooked a smaller 12+" LMB that was then eaten by a Trophy LMB.

big pond, how you doing
two oldtimers
Bill Duggan

Do you have a shallow cove on the pond you could fence off with t posts and plastic mesh fencing?

If so you could block off a cove, buy a bunch of fingerling CC, feed them for a month or two in the area till you are satisfied they are big enouh to escape predation.

Then take the fence down.

Try sampling - angling with bigger small fish (5"-6") to see if larger bass are present.

When I was referencing trot lines earlier, I was referring to the suggestion of catching catfish on trotlines and transplanting, not catching bass.

Netting off a small section.....brilliant!!!!! There is a small section that is perfect for that. Will have them in one place, isolated, easy to feed!!!!!

Make a concerted effort to get the bottom of the net as far down and as secure as possible, maybe weighted with chain or similar flexable material, into the sediment. The CC are resourceful and can find ways to get under the blocking net. Fish behind a blocking net are very vulnerable to overhead predation esp birds. Tin pie pans flashing & clanging in the breeze might work well to deter birds.

First, a big welcome to Pond Boss.

Second, the bass you describe are not a threat to successfully stocking channel catfish.

A six acre pond is at a size where channel catfish "recruitment" (a cycle of reproduction, growth, reproduction, etc.) in the presence of few big largemouth bass is very possible. From your description of the bass in your pond, I believe you will have good success growing channel catfish.

A big caution is to not over stock channel catfish. They can become very serious pests and predators it overstocked and not thinned out regularly.

Under control they are fantastic. They grow very fast, especially if fed. Hand feeding can be a lot of fun for you and the kids. They can substitute in many recipes for many different kinds of freshwater and saltwater fish. (I skin both sides of the bellies, steam/poach them for just a few minutes, and make "West Virginia" lobster rolls with them.)

You should be able to readily find 4-5 inch channel catfish, but 5-7 inch will be even better. Because of their dorsal and pectoral fins/spines can be locked, bass seem to know they are not good snacks. If you put in 25-50 of them now, they will probably be about 12 inches by September, maybe bigger. Early next summer they will be 16-20 inches. Next spring, put in put in another 25-50.

Don't put in more than 1/3 more than you figure you will eat in one season.

Good luck. Good eating.
Ken

In Mississippi, if you put in some 6-8 inch commonly available CC now, and feed them to satiation, they will be 3 pounds by late October. Mine were nearly that big, some bigger, in NW Arkansas at 1225 ft elevation. Stocked Oct 2015 at 5-8 inches. Some of the fish farms sell 11-12 inch CC for about a dollar each. There is a place near here that sells brooders of 2-4 pounds at $3.25 a pound.