Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch Record catfish at our pond - 12 lbs

I was not really fishing. Honest. Just trying to impress some relatives that were over at the house visiting.

I thew out a hook with stink bait on it and ended up catching this record from our pond. This blue catfish weighed in right at twelve pounds.

When I cut it open, it had a stomach absolutely packed full of feed. (no surprise there.)

We did not stock any blues. We have done three stockings of CC. It's weird. Sometimes we count 10 or so monster blues come to feed and the CC are more elusive. Then we feed at other times and it seems the 1-3 pound CC are the only ones eating. I'd really like to catch/remove all these monster blues because they are hard to catch and are consuming mass quantities of the feed which I intend for the CC population.

What a HOG!!! The fish, I mean!

12 pounds is a good sized fish to come out of any pond.

So what kind of tackle were you using?

Did you waterboard the Blue to get intel on his friends? (Or do you airboard a fish.... I'm not sure how that works).

You have to say one thing, that fish sure looks healthy!

Your relatives must have been surprised when you hauled out a 12 pound cat fish.

Say, Clayton, I'm guessing from your picture that your catch is a big channel catfish. Let's see if you get any other feedback from others who may agree/disagree with me.

Blue cats have a straight-edged anal fin. You can lay a ruler along it, and it will appear straight. At least from the angle of your picture, it sure looks like you have the typical curved anal fin of a channel catfish.

If I'm right, then I thought you might want to know?? Sounds like you have some big channel cats, with some smaller ones following behind in size?

Thats a nice fish clayton, whatever it is. How big is the pond and how long ago was it stocked?

I usually go by the rule "if it has one spot, it's a channel cat." Couldn't find one on this fish (any spots in the photo are dirt.)

One of the "regional" names is a "high-fin Blue" around here.

If it's not a Blue, I'm very open to knowing more about what it might be.

Our pond is approximately 2 acres. I caught this fish using a Daiwa spincast reel, Ugly stick rod, and 14 # Spiderwire. Used some "liver" scented stinkbait from Bass Pro. I did use some enhanced interrogation techniques and found out from this fish that there are others like him plotting to eat more of my feed.

Am I correct in my assumption this fish is NOT one we stocked, considering the earliest we stocked were 6-8" CC in late February 2009? It would seem to indicate record growth if this was one of ours........

Clayton, channel catfish lose their spotting as they get larger. Also, the spawning males really get a dark blue. So, I am FAR from an expert on blue cats. However, I really suspect this is one of your larger, fast growing channel cats. Hopefully, some of our southern folks will spot this and comment. After all, it's Mother's Day! Eventually they should be back to the forum, eh? :-)

Wow, you sure are right about the growth. Again, I don't have any experience with southern catfish on feed. However, that darn big in just over 2 years would have to be an amazing accomplishment. I'll look forward to the comments from others.

Looks like a 6 to 7 year old CC to me.

Clayton, I have some question about that kind of growth in 2 years. Could someone have slipped some mature cats in? Not saying it couldn't happen but 2 years and 12 pounds is questionable. If you have 10 or 12 of them....

How big are the smaller cc's?

I am going with a nice sized CC myself. The anal fin is a dead give away along with some other morphological features. Heck of a nice fish either way!

No spots doesn't mean that it isn't a CC. 29.5" 15.9#

I still think that is the prettiest CC I have ever seen...

It's still swimming around. Now it has a numbered floy tag in it.

Channel cat IMO, and the WR has to be 130+

We did not completely eradicate the existing population of the pond before we stocked. We fished it VERY aggressively, however. We were told that the pond was used for raising catfish before we came along. I do not see how we could have fished it for a year and never caught anything (which seems to be the case.)

The smaller CC I see at feeding time range from 12-18", more inline with what we stocked. Also the coloration is different on the smaller ones. The 10-12 big giants we see have the same greenish/muddy color whereas the little ones are more blue/white combination. I'm sure that changes over time as they mature, but it's an observation I've made.

For the cat experts; doesn't the idea that it's a CC makes it even more remarkable? A 12 pound channel out of a pond seems really rare.

Any double digit CC is a good cat in my book regardless of where it is taken. From a pond it's very good. A good feeding program and some time can make it happen though. Growing a double digit cat on natural forage is a whole lot more of a challenge.

I've caught an 18#r out of a buddies pond on a cicada and cork little bitty pond too so it's definately possible.. At first glance I thought yours was a CC not a blue..

A 12 pound channel catfish is a GREAT fish! Good job.

I caught an 11.5 out of mine 2 weeks ago. Of course, it was 10 years old. The feeding program is whenever I show up. Hogs, poachers and thieves keep me from having a feeder.

He was definitely hitting the feed. Look at that gut!

We are feeding Land-o-Lakes 32% protein feed. Feeding schedule varies as we do it all by hand. I try to throw out as much as they will eat in 10 minutes -- no more than that. Our schedule is usually feeding around 18:00-19:30 (after or before supper for us.) Sometimes I will do a 11:00 feeding if I'm home and the weather is just right.

We purchased this property because of two factors -- this pond and our neighbor (state forest.)

I've posted this before.. Our pond produces some decent 8-11" GSF, too.



My biggest concern at this point is making sure my other, smaller CC, get plenty of feed and get up to a good eating size.. I don't want these fat boys hogging up all the feed!!!

Nice Flathead bait right there!

JHAP -- are you still monitoring this thread?? Look at that plump greenie!!

I sure am Dr. Dave. That is an outstanding GSF!

That greenie is a pig. I'd remove any of the bigger CC as you catch them.