Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Feed training bluegill and Channel Cats

Hello,

I am a newly registered user on this site. First off, FANTASTIC website with a wealth of information.

For a little background....

I recently stocked my 1/2 acre pond with 50 channel cats ranging from anywhere between 5-9 inches. This pond was origianlly stocked with catfish when the property was originally purchased. My family fed the cats 3 times a week and needles to say, the cats got huge! Long story short, the cats were all taken out because certain members of the family wanted to turn it into a bass pond. It worked well but now I am the one putting money into the pond and I would like to focus my energy and resources on turning it into a great bluegill and catfish fishery. I would appreciate it if my question, at the end of this post, will be answered by assuming that the majority of my catfish have survived predation. Many of them are much too big for any LG to eat.

My plan of action is to harvest the catfish once they reach several pounds and continually restock the pond. I WOULD like to institute a feeding program. The same program that worked wonders when we originally fed. All the stories on this forum of the fish going crazy when they feel vibrations on the day of feeding, well, that was certainly the case with our pond. Before, everytime I drove the 4wheeler down to the pond the water at the end of the dock to the middle of the pond was churning with hungry cats and bluegill.

As of right now, the bluegill have very very little itnerest in the feed. Most spit the feed out, while some eat only a few pellets. I have seen no catfish come to the surface to feed. It will be two months on June 22nd since I stocked my catfish.

I live in Virginia, the water temp is right, and the feed is not old. Apologies for the long post but HERE IS MY QUESTION. Has anyone had success with buying larger bluegill, say in the 5-9 inch range, from a hatchery in order to train the existing bluegill in a pond that the feed is actually food? I have read that for some people this has been a very successful route. Perhaps the same question could be asked for buying larger catfish from a hatchery? If I plan on going this route, I will be purchasing these larger bluegill and cats from Zetsts fish hatchery. With that said, does anyone have any reviews on Zetts.

Once again, sorry for the long post and I look forward to reading some answers from all you experienced Boss Pond Forum Pros!

AAA - welcome to Pond Boss.

I'm sure a few others, more expert than me, will give some better advice.

I've been stocking/restocking my own ponds and friend's ponds for a number of years. I don't have an answer to your dilemma, but have witnessed it several times.

As for spitting out the food, I've seen that, but I don't remember what kind it was. I now mostly stick with Southern States Lil Strike, which the fish seem to like. I'm not sure where you are, but if you are looking at going to Zetts, you will probably pass by Clearbrook Feeds, in Clearbrook. -- sandwiched between I-81 and Route 11 near the WV/VA line. They usually have the Purina Aquamax products, which the fish also like.

I put in a new pond a little over a year ago that I stocked with fathead minnows (FHM), channel cats (CC) and hybrid bluegill (HBG). I've never seen those cats come up for food, but the HBG are voracious. Last week I added more HBG and twenty-five 4-7 inch CC. the newest CC are very heavy feeders.

As for Zetts, they have good pricing and healthy fish. They package the fish very well for shipment. You should call ahead because they sometimes are low on certain stock and sizes. By the time you get there, the fish will be bagged in oxygenated bags that are in sturdy cardboard boxes. But, examine the fish very carefully before putting them in the pond. I'm not the only one who suspects we've gotten something else mixed in with the desired fish. Southeast Pond Stockers does makes a number trips each season to the Tractor Supply stores in VA. The Fishwagon has a regular circuit through many of Virginia's Southern States stores.

Good Luck,
Ken

I certainly don't have any more expertise than Cat, but a couple thoughts-
When I started feeding in a pond that had never been fed, it did take quite a while to get a really vigorous frenzy going-longer than a couple months, if I recall. If you have a feeder, the fish will train much faster due to the high frequency of repetitions. If you're hand feeding-it'll take a lot longer.

If your BG are observed spitting out a significant amount of food-I'd be concerned that they don't like it, regardless of age. Mine DO NOT LIKE the TSC catfish food they had a couple years ago-would not take it well at all. And these weren't spoiled by eating AM all the time. The newer TSC food seems to be ok, but they'd much rather have AM.

I know you said that your cats were big enough to escape predation by the bass, but it doesn't take a very big bass to eat a 5" CC...any possibility that you've lost a fair amount to predation?

Now back to your question: Yes, there will probably be some "learning" that will occur if you purchase feed trained fish, by both example and stimulation of competitive instincts, but I'd try other measures first [especially increasing the repetitions of feeding, and buying a different feed].

Zett's has a pretty good reputation here, but I recall at least one instance in which the fish purchased may have not been the species ordered....just examine before adding.

Good Luck, and a second welcome to the forum.

Thank you for your knowledgeable responses!

A little more background may help clarify any future responses.

We, as a family, used to feed our catfish nothing but Southern States big strike. It worked like a charm. I am now experimenting between Southern States Big Strike and Purina Aquamax. I switched to Purina after seeing the fish spit out the feed, somewhere I read that Purina contains greater attractants that the fish will respond to. This is what led to the Purina purchase.

Right now, an automatic feeder is not economically feasible. It IS something I plan on purchasing in the future. It appears as this machine makes the most sense. I am in graduate school in Richmond, Virginia studying Environmental Planning and come back to our pond, in Nelson county, for several days every week. During these times I am home I throw out feed at least twice a day all around the same time. While I am gone, my family does the same.

As to the predation issue. I am sure that some have fallen victim to several of the very big largemouth bass in the pond. There are catfish that I stocked in the 8inch range that I am sure will survive any bass they come across. I plan on fishing for the cats at the end of September and seeing what size they are, that is if any have survived, which I am sure they have.

Basically, I have been using Southern States Big Strike and Purina Aquamax Fish Chow, yet the bluegill will eat only a few pellets then spit the rest out. No sign of any catfish coming to the surface to feed. Perhaps they are eating the waterlogged feed that eventually sinks to the bottom of the pond?

Well, you've got good food, so that idea is out. Sounds like you've got a good situation WRT regularity as well. Maybe some fish just don't like pellets?
How big at the LMB? If you've got 15-24" LMB, any BG you can buy will be at high risk for predation, and might not be worth the expense..."grown out" fish can be pretty expensive, as well as harder to transport.
If it was me-I'd just keep up what you're doing.....sounds like you're doing everything right.

The largest LMB in the pond is around 15 inches. I have had some fun the past few weeks feeding the bass small goldfish bought at Petsmart. They went crazy for the goldfish! I did feel bad buying 30 feeder goldfish for the bass while a little girl was waiting in line to buy her first pet goldfish.

The whole reason for feeding is to produce high quality table fare for the family, CC and BG.

There are a fair amount of difference in ingredients, size, and protein between Big Strike and Lil Strike from Southern States. If you can't get Aquamax, think about switching to the Lil Strike.

Also, TSC in this area recently switched to the the multi-sized Cargill feed. I've had mixed success with it. I'm going to try more of it in the near future.

Just a couple of ideas.

Goldfish are about 90% water. The common thoughts are that about 10 lbs. of live fish results in 1 lb. of weight gain in those that eat the live fish. Fish feed has a conversion ratio much closer to 2:1 -- that is, 2 lbs., of good fish feed results in 1 lb., of fish growth.

Lastly, if a few of the goldfish make to safety -- and they are boy and girl -- you could be starting a whole new problem for the pond.

If buying from an aquarium fish supplier, you would be safer using "feeder fish" like fatheads, or their mutant cousins, the rosey reds. They will not overpopulate/overgrow and become pond pests.

Feeder goldfish are also notorious for bringing in parasites. They are mass produced and not under the best conditions.