Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Which to Stock????? CC or BC

I have a new 3/4 acre pond and plan to stock it with catfish in late May or early June. I initially wanted to stock BC, but am unsure at this point. I was hoping to gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of stocking BC rather than CC. So far I have added 12 lbs of FH, 300 CNBG, and 60 RESF. The goal of this pond is to provide family fun for my kids and the retired neighbors that own the pasture behind me, and some decent table fare for the work and expense.
If it was your new pond, which would you stock and why?

Thanks in advance,
BH

Will you be adding any LMB any time down the road?

From your goals, I would stock CC.

BC get very large and predatory. They would produce no advantage to you over CC for the goals you are trying to reach. CC are cheaper to buy, will still reach great sizes, 12-15 is reasonable to expect. They would produce fine table fare and easily take to pellets in you choose to feed your fish.

Stick with the CC.

Thanks for the replies guys. I hadn’t planned on stocking any LMB because it’s just not big enough to diversify species and manage it easily. If I stock CC, will they keep the CNBG numbers in check? If not, would it be a bad idea to add 20 – 25 BC to control the BG population?

I doubt either will control the BG population overly well. It'll take a few years for even BC to get large enough to effectively prey on 3"-4" CNBG.

You could consider adding some HSB, they aren't the best at controlling BG but would help. They also take to pellets well and are excellent for angling and many find them good on the table. They rarely if ever reproduce in ponds, so they are not a management issue.

You could also add just 1 LMB. Just that one bass can help... Or if you can, try to source all male or all female bass. Add a dozen or so in the 12-14" range. Spring is often easiest for IDing male bass as you can squeeze them and check for milt as you catch them off their nests.

Call the PB office and get the current mag as it focuses on catfish including articles on both Blue and Channels.

I just read the current issue and wonder about what I've been stocking in my pond. The suppliers call them Blue Channel catfish but the article made no mention of this fish. They had Channel cats, Blue cats, white catafish, brown and yellow flatheads, mudcats and stonecats. Zetts also says they have Silver Channel catfish too and one year I put some in but since then I have lost everything to a winter fish kill. So what am I putting in my pond? Whatever they are, they grow nicely, are fun to catch and taste great!

Kru Heller
Powhatan, Va.

If you like your catfish pond and you really want to control the bluegill population add ONE flathead catfish. You should get one in the 10 pound area and turn him loose. I guarantee that you will never find one fish that can do more damage to a fish population in your pond than a decent sized flathead. They are absolute pigs and will eat and eat and eat and eat. I've watched pretty good sized ones in aquariums eat until the puked and then eat more. LOL.

Big flatheads eat big bluegill, not good for managing bg at all really..

I guess that they wouldn't be great at smashing the little bluegill, but not much can match the bluegill appetite of a big flathead. I was just thinking in pounds of bluegill that you could take off a pond in a year with just one predator.

Yeah they'd prolly eat the most pounds, but would have a negative effect.. You don't wanna lose all your big gils you want the little guys decimated, that's why LMB of different age classes are the best for BG control.. Flathead would prolly really put a hirtin on his RES just because of the location they both hang out.. I think Flatheads are just to bad*$$ for a pond lol..

Krudell, the only thing that you can do to get a straight answer is call the fish supplier and ask them for the scientific name of the fish that you bought from them. If they say it's a hybrid, then ask them what fish was the male and what fish was the female parent.

Zett's is famous for giving their rather normal fish extravagant names... Just a marketing ploy. From my experience and what I have seen with other people who have bought catfish from Zett's, you never really know what you are getting. People who have bought what they thought were just plain old CC ended up with white catfish and brown bullheads mixed in. Feel free to buy from Zett's, just make sure you hand sort your fish before you release them.

Esshup
Thanks for your answer. I re-read the mag. last night after posting here and found in the article "Catfish Nuggets" the a reference to hybrids stating that the cross of a male BC X CC was more catchable. In Bob's article on Blue Catfish there was a picture of a hybrid catfish but it lookes nothing like the ones I buy - it is brown not blue. I wonder if I can surmise that it must have been the result of a male CC X female BC? I wonder what those are like and how catchable they are and their behavior in a pond? After reading this issue I think I found the answer to my question about why my bass didn't grow large, likely I had too many catfish. I'm presently restocking after a fish kill and won't make that mistake again. I also wonder if the fish Zetts sells as "Silver Channel Catfish" are actually CC. I'm thinking I'd like to stock BC in much lower numbers than I did on my first stocking when I used hybrids without knowing it. I was under the misconception that catfish (of all kinds) were scavengers and grew mostly on what I fed them. Anyone that can shed more light into this topic will help me and hopefully others.

Kru heller
Powhatan, Va.

Zett's likes to name their fish all kinds of exotic and extravagant names for marketing purposes. So, to truly know what you are getting do as esshup says and get them to give you a scientific name. Also, be careful with the fish you buy from them. I know of multiple occasions where people bought what they thought and were told were pure channel catfish but ended up having other catfish species mixed in(brown bullhead and white catfish). So, you may need to hand sort your fish. However, white catfish and CC can be difficult to ID, especially when small... With where you are in VA, you're probably just as close to a couple hatcheries in NC as you are to Zett's.

Todd Overton's 34lb BC on the fly ...

CJBS2003, Thanks for your reply. I've been less than satisfied with Zetts for a long time among other problems I've gotten green sunfish in an order of Red Ear Sunfish. But to my knowledge they were the only game in town that has more than 3 varieties of fish. I have found a great Koi producer near here. If anyone knows of another hatchery near me they could send me a private EM in case there are rules against putting it here. Please use krudell at comcast dot net.

Kru Heller
Powhatan, Va.

Just one would be cool LOL. You would probably catch it every couple years while you were bass fishing, or one of your friends would catch it, and just about wreck their drawers LOL.