Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Newly stocked fish

Good evening I just stocked my 1/4 acre pond with catfish and minnows this past Saturday. I have not seen a catfish or minnow since. I have been throwing pellets out a few times a day. The weather isn't cold. It's been in the 60's , 70's the past couple of days. Do I need to give them sinking pellets instead of the rangen I have been feeding them. There aren't any dead fish so I guess they are ok. I just thought I would have seen some activity by now.

Warm days are great! Do you know what your water temperature is?

IMO Be patient, give them a little time to get used to their new home. Throw a few pellets same place and time in the evening once your water temps are 60 or so. My CC don't come to pellets in cooler water than that. Maybe they do in other folks ponds though.

I would stick with the floating pellets otherwise you will never know if they are feeding or you are just throwing pellets to the bottom of the pond to feed FA.

Just my 1 cent

When we stocked our pond we hardly ever saw our CC the first year. Once they got about 10" long, if I would stand very very still and feed in one spot for a while, rarely I would see one slip in and snag a pellet.

Sinking feed is generally frowned on because you can not see if it is being utilized. But early in my ponds life I liked to mix in about 10-20% sinking feed with the floating. You can see how the fish are cleaning up the feed with the floating and with only 20% sinking if they get the floating gone you can be sure they are eating the sinking. Don't put the sinking in extremely deep water.

As long as your pond has FHM and CC, unless you are just feeding excessive amounts, the sinking feed will get cleaned up. My observation is that fish will generally prefer to eat feed mid water or off the bottom compared to the surface. We use floating feed for our enjoyment of watching and to monitor consumption. The fish actually prefer when they do not have to come to the surface.

The CC will get started on feed better with a little sinking also. It was the second year before my CC really started feeding agressively where I saw numerous fish every feeding. When they were young they were very skittish and hard to see them take feed. I am satisfied they were eating though when I left from the way they grew. They kind of have to get used to your presence and learn you are not a threat like some GBH.

Early in my ponds life, when the FHM were thick from reproduction, I would drop a pile of sinking feed in one spot. Then from a boat or dock I would use an Aquaview camera and monitor it. Within a few minutes FHM would inundate the pile and just attack it with such verocity that the water would cloud up where I could no longer see anything but fish right at the camera. They would clean it up pronto.

Edit: what BillD said about water temperature, ditto. My CC quit feeding (as much) in the fall when the water cools before my BG do. They do not start feeding as early in the spring as the BG do either. It may just be too cool water.

Sometimes it takes a few weeks, especially this time of year, for catfish to come to feed. They have to adjust to their surroundings, figure out where to live and then find food. Once the water temperature rises 60, they'll become more active. So, by the first or second week of March, present a little bit of feed every day, same time, same place, and fish will become adjusted. As the temperature rises, they will become more active, based on how many you stocked.