Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Channel Cat advice needed.

IO have a 3/4 acre pond...spring fed Nov-May. Pond is at least 25 years old and was previously stocked with LM Bass, Bream, and channel Cats. We suspect the pond was shocked and all Cats poached 3 or 4 years ago. Looks like they took any sizeable bass as well, Still plenty of Bream (some good size) and Bass (small to medium).

I restocked last year with 400 6-8" channels. I feed during the warmer months. The cats came up to eat the first year but never very aggressively and it sure didn't appear to be near the 400 I initially stocked.

I'm assuming they may not have fed well the first year because there may have been an abundance of food existing since there were no cats in the pond for a few years.

This year the cats came up to feed better but still seems to be a small quantity. They've grown nicely and average 1.5 lbs, some up to 2 lbs and look healthy. The past two evenings I'm not seeing any catfish come up to feed, however the Bream are having a feast.

Why would they stop coming up to feed?

Does it have anything to do with spawning?

Why does it appear there are far less cats than I put in there? Haven't had any floaters or any washed up on the bank and we're not fishing them.

I've seen others who have cats that aggressively feed bringing the water to a "boil". Mine don't and I'm wondering why.

Thanks for any advice.

Danno

400 is an awful lot of catfish for a 3/4 acre pond. I would immediately start removing some fish for the table. They are at a prime size if they are 1.5 to 2 pounds. Do not return any you have caught as they become extremely hook shy and darn near impossible to catch.

It could certainly have to do with spawning as to why they are not as noticeable. In some catfish ponds, the cats never really learn or desire to completely surface feed. They just grab that pellets that get so water logged and begin to sink.

Feed your fish as normal and then after the feeding, catch a couple cats. Gut them out and check stomach contents, you'll quickly see whether they are taking pellets or not.

Is there a chance you are still having a poaching problem? Do you live at the pond? Any security measures in place(cameras, posted signs, fencing, land mines)?

I was told by the place I bought the fish that 400 wasn't too many if I was going to feed them. Could have told me that just to generate sales.

I'll try your advice about catching a few and checking to see if they're eating the feed still. They were coming up noticeably but haven't seen them surface in the last two days.

I live near the pond but can't see it from the house. It's fenced but anyone could get through it with little effort.

I thought about land mines but I'm afraid I would forget where I buried them and would blow myself up...guess I could have the wife wallk in front of me.

Thanks for your response.

Danno

Sadly, you hit the nail on the head... There are very few fish hatcheries that give good advise on stocking numbers and timing of stocking. They are in it for a fast buck, not a long term customer. Fortunately, your problem is easily remedied... 400 can be a reasonable number if you feed, aerate and plan on eating a lot of CC for dinner, lunch, breakfast, late night snack and then give some away too... CC does freeze fairly well, but for the most part only time I do that is when I want winter fish. If I want catfish during the warm month, I just go out and catch some fresh fish.

I like that idea!

CJ, you are starting to get funny, must be that married life is agreeing with you

I was given a bunch of 5-6" CC once. I plopped them into a tank. 4 dull walls and a floor, what a life! They would always eat off the bottom. Once in a while they would skim the side walls eating algae or whatever, but anytime I walked in, zoom, right to the bottom. Probably thought I was a predator (and they were correct in that assumption), but the only scenery that ever changed for them was straight up! Poor little guy's and gal's darn near had a heart attack when I walked in. I did move the lighting so as not to cast a shadow or create major reflections. That seemed to help. I lost a few, the rest ended up in a friends pond, but that has NP in it, so the 4 dull walls with a bottom may have been a better place because, they never had to look over their shoulder

Danno -- welcome to Pond Boss.

Wow. 400 channel cats in that size pond. The fish dealer saw you coming, and I'm sure he was grinning when he saw you leaving.

As usual, our friend CJBS nailed the advice better than I ever could have.

I put about twenty-five 10-12 inch catfish into my 0.7 acre pond every two years. They grow fairly quickly to 18-24 inches. There are always a few 30+ inchers left. That many channel cats gives us a pretty good catfish fry more than once a month during the warm season. The 22-inch catfish I took in the other evening gave me 2-1/2 lbs of bone-free/skin-free filets. Cut into chicken nugget size pieces, battered and fried, that will make enough pieces for 4-6 of us. We also always supplement with other culls from the pond, like lots of 6-9 inch bluegill, and a few bass. In the springtime, we add some smoked trout.

The bottom line is to only put in enough channel cats to pull out in one or two seasons. Otherwise, they become real pests when they either over populate or they grow to gargantuan size.

Good luck,
Ken

I think Ken's CC numbers are perfect for the average "mixed" pond. As in, not just a CC pond, but with other species present. 25 fish per acre or so every year or every other year is about right for the average person who likes the occasional CC fry but wants to limit the number of problem CC in the future. You can get larger CC fairly cheap, thus preventing your newly stocked CC from becoming snack food for your already present fish. Survival rates are high and the return to the table rate is high as well. Stocking larger numbers of smaller CC, can lead to mixed results. Extremes being either most are eaten and you hardly have any reach edible size or they mostly make it and you have too many... Stocking fewer but larger CC, is a happy balance.

Thanks for the input everybody. I see a fish fry or two in the near future. I want to have some big enough that make it a fun challenge to land, a few whoppers eventually, but avoid overpopulating to the point they are a pest.