Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Catfish/food chain question

I have a question. Its said that small catfish hardly ever make it due to bass/preditor predation. So, my question is. If you have a few bigger channel cats, say 2 dozen in your pond and you encourage them to spawn, wouldnt this add to the food chain? I hear you dont want to encourage catfish to spawn, but if there succes rate of surviving to adults is very low, then why not encourage them to add to the food chain?

I had that thought myself, Joey, when my CC had places to spawn and before I knew that CC fingerlings had managed to live to decent size.

If you really want the CC to recuit, or if you're willing to take the chance that they will recruit, go ahead. If you absolutely, positively don't want any more CC, don't encourage them to spawn figuring that all the fry and small fingerlings will get eaten. Out of the thousands and thousands of babies produced, all will try and some may succeed in thwarting your plans.

See

my cousin made places for his to spawn and they did you would catch dozens 3-5" cc with a small enough hook

theo, r u raising one-eyed cats? seems like you've had some real oddities there.

We're not sure whether weird animals come here and thrive, or we do something to make them weird.

The real question here is how did that fish survive with the disadvantage of having only one eye?

Theos has plenty of predators in his pond.

They were busy eating all the CC with NO eyes. :p

I bet having only one eye is less of a disadvantage for non-sight feeders like CC than it would be for, say, LMB.

I think it's a disadvantange to avoiding predation while she was younger and smaller.

I really would like to try to get mine to spawn, not sure if its a great idea or not but I want to try. What do you suggest Theo. I read a bunch of stuff but tell me what works. Like the containers they like to go in and how deep and which way to face it etc. Plz. Thanks

Don't do it unless you're sure you want catfish forever. They're too cheap to restock someday, if you just want to add X number more.

That being said, it's a free country and everyone is permitted to repeat my (possible) mistakes.

Some of those spawned catfish will survive. Maybe not many, but some will. If you like catfish, let them spawn, but for a gamefish, not a forage species.

Sunil,

"In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King."

-Rex Luscus

I definatly dont mind the catfish being in there. They bite, they fight, and they taste fine. I guess my concern is if the baby cats will eat to much of the natural food ment for the baby BG and LMB. Once there on pellets I am not as worried. I still might put one spawning place for them and see if they spawn.

Joey:

Remember that CC spawn noticeably later than LMB and BG; CC fry shouldn't be much competition with the older, larger Centrarchidae youngsters.

If anyone is interested here is good info on catfish spawning in your pond, sent to me from Dunn's.


In nature, catfish spawn in hollow logs, holes in the bank, or under submerged root wads of trees. Some people believe catfish will not reproduce in a pond. They will, but most ponds do not have suitable spawning structures. Also, young catfish travel in schools which make them easy prey for predators, including bass and birds. Blue catfish and especially flathead catfish can be cannibalistic. Survival of catfish, unless they are in a pond by themselves, is very low. For these same reasons, new reservoirs rarely have a good population of catfish.



Spawning

In late spring or early summer, it is easy to tell male and female catfish apart. Females have small, pointed heads and big bellies. Males' heads are broad and heavily muscled, and they frequently are scratched from fighting over spawning sites. Catfish are 2-5 years old when they first spawn. With the longer growing season, fish in the southern part of the country will spawn at a younger age. Older females are usually the first to spawn.



Actual spawning starts when water temperatures reach about 77°F (25°C). When a female is ready to spawn, she will seek out a male in his spawning structure. They go through an intricate dance, with her depositing a layer of eggs, followed by the male fertilizing them. This is repeated, with the eggs sticking together to form a mass. Females have about 3,000 eggs per pound of body weight, and they are all deposited in one spawning session.



Catfish eggs are fairly large, running about 10,000 eggs per pound. After spawning, the male runs the female off and guards the eggs, fanning them with his tail to keep fresh water flowing over them. He will also defend them from other fish that try to eat them. Eggs take 5-8 days to hatch, depending on water temperature. When they hatch, they remain on the bottom as "sac fry", living off the yolk sac for 3 to 10 days. When the yolk is used up, they begin swimming and are called "swim-up fry". If fed properly, they should average 6-8 inches after the first growing season. In commercial operations, these fingerlings will average 1-1½ pounds each by the end of the second growing season, about October or November of their second year.



Spawning Containers

If you want to spawn catfish in your pond, you must provide spawning containers. Hatcheries used old milk cans, earthenware crocks, or nail kegs, but these are no longer available. If you do find one, it is more valuable as an antique. Suitable containers can be made of two 5 gallon buckets fastened mouth to mouth with cable ties through holes drilled in the lip. Cut out half of the bottom of one of the buckets and drill some vent holes to let the air out when you sink it. To keep the container from rolling, attach a brick or cinder block on each side so that the hole you cut is facing up. You can also make spawning containers from PVC pipe, pieces of culvert, or barrels. Keep in mind that males like a container with an opening just big enough to get their heads into, since it is easier for them to defend. Containers can be put anywhere from 6 inches to 5 feet deep, with 2-3 feet probably the best. If you want to remove the containers later, tie a float to them with nylon string so they are easy to find.



Conclusion

If you really want to spawn catfish in your pond, it can be done. However, in a pond with bass and bluegill, you will have only a minimal amount, if any, survive. You are better off stocking larger fingerlings that are too big to be eaten by most of your other fish. If you have a pond with just catfish in it, you are still better off stocking large fingerlings. If you don't, you will wind up with a pond that has adult catfish and a bunch of little bait-stealers that make fishing aggravating. Keep harvest records and replace with larger fingerlings when half of the initial stocking has been removed.

The part of that I found most interesting was female cats producing 1/3 their body weight in eggs.

If 13lb7oz CC caught last weekend by Jeff, my “pond lord” son, is 1/3 body weight egg laden, I fear to think if all her sisters spawn, we are going to be in a heap of trouble.

(Over) stocked in 2002.

George,
Somehow I don't think you are going to be in trouble, unless cats are all you have in your pond.

For a few years I was plagued with way too many big cats, and from all indications, they were partying like college students at Spring Break. They really looked terrible in the late spring -- they literally wore their skin off partying. They dug big caves in the north side of my pond. Even this year, with only a few medium size cats, there were several that wore their skin off.

I walk the edges of my pond a few times a week. I put out a 1/8-inch mesh fish trap at least once a month during the pellet feeding season. As far as I can tell, just a very few cats have survived after a lot of years of neglect. I just accidentally dropped 25 5-inch CC in my pond about two weeks ago. It will be interesting to see if they survive.

At least in this area, 4-5 inch CC are real cheap to stock.

Good Fishn'
Ken