Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Catfish Stocking Rates

Having trouble finding suggested stocking rates for channel catfish in a sportsmen's club (mostly harvest) lake. If anyone has any information they could share it would be greatly appreciated.

1.Lake is approximately 2 acres in size, averages 5-6' deep, with the deepest spot being 11'.
2. Annual catfish harvest is currently 100-125 fish per year, with roughly 75-100 caught and released each year.
3. Feeding program and aeration inplace. Tons of habitat added the last two years.
4. Bluegill, green sunfish, largemouth bass are the native other species.
5. Added hybrid bluegills and redears in 2013.
6. Slot limit was imposed the last 2 years on the 7-12" bass. Approximately 200 were taken out each of the past 2 years. We finally saw a size and health improvement towards the end of last year. We have very few bass over 18" currently.
7. Panfish population is solid. No real studs but the weight/length ratio is very good overall.
8. Golden shiners will be added for forage this year.

Given there is a respectable amount of catfish in the lake already and the annual harvest #'s above I am estimating an annual stocking of 200# of 1lb + channel cats to satisfy the members who like to harvest catfish yet not decimate the rest of the ecosystem in the process. Does this sound about right? In the past too many #'s of catfish were stocked on an annual basis (500#) and there is little doubt in my mind it has hurt the overall fishery over that period of time.
We beleive we have the bass and panfish on the right track moving forward. We are also going to strongly discourage release of catfish this year in attempt to better manage our stocking on a year to year basis.
Any advice on catfish stocking rates with the above information would be greatly appreciated.

Others with more experience with CC in ponds should chime in. My experience in some local ponds (mine and some clients) are that CC, once C&R, are difficult if not impossible to re-catch.

I'd make a catch and keep rule, no C&R of CC.

I'd suggest an annual stocking that equalled the number of fish removed the previous year. Not by weight, and here's my reasoning behind it.

If 100# of CC are removed, that could be as little as 20 fish if they averaged 5# each. If you stock 200# of 1# CC, you are adding 180 more mouths to feed.

Take a look in the archives for the relative weight chart on CC. I'd print that out and monitor the CC caught this upcoming year. If the RW of the CC is less than the chart, then stock less than what was removed. Once CC get larger than a couple of pounds, they change their eating habits and start targeting more and more live fish.

Seeing how this has been brought up, I have been curious about this at times.

Does 20 CC at 5# ea eat the same, less, or more, as 100 1# catfish?

It would seem they eat the same because a 5# CC is going to have a bigger appetite than a 1#.

Now in the above scenario, as those 100# CC grow, it would seem they will be consuming more. But then again, if every CC is not released, those stocked numbers will also quickly decrease.... Am I wrong?

Why are you adding GSH to a mature pond? From what I've read here, this is rarely successful at establishing a base of GSH and will be just an expensive one-time snack for your LMB.

Somewhere in there, the catfish are going to become top-of-the-line fish predators. Things will change in a short period when the CC start getting to 2-3 lbs., and they start eating your next generations of other fish.

This is where back issues of Pond Boss are very valuable. A near-recent issue was devoted to catfish -- I just can't get at it right now.

I was trying to think in the simplest of terms where the CC food was only considered in pounds, where "x" number of pounds of CC (no matter their sizes) would eat the same amount in pounds as long as their total weight as a group stays the same(some growing, some being removed, some new ones added-- thus end total weight staying the same).

I agree with you Catmandoo, the types of food needed would evolve, thus changing the ecosystem. Considering that, it seems like it would be a lot tougher to manage. Good to point out the back issues, WF may benefit tremendously from those if it's his job to manage the CC pond. Cody just posted the index of 2013, wonder if it's in there.

Thanks to Bill Cody's work, the catfish issue was Mar-Apr 2012 Special Catfish Issue. A complete listing of that issue's contents is in that link.

Much more about catfish eating habits has been written here on the forum, particularly by Bob Lusk. I just can't find it.

Bocomo,
The thought process on the GSH was to provide the bass with a high quality food source knowing going into it most of them would end up as food this year. The notion of stocking a percentage of brooder size fish has been talked about to hopefully allow for some to pull off a a respectable spawn on all of the added structure we've implemented the last 2 years. Not sure if is feasible or not, but that's the idea at least.
Having been involved in the lake for a few years now, forage other than bluegills seem to be lacking for the bass. Currently estimating stocking 40-50# of GSH and an additional 20# of brooder size GSH for the 2 acre lake.Is there asuggested stocking rate for GSH in an established pond?

Water Fowl

Thanks catmandoo. I will see what I can dig up on the back issue. I had trouble locating much on this matter using the search function. Been a PB subscriber for about a year now, been a wealth of knowledge as has this forum. Most of which is still a bit over my head however I'm confident the lake is in better shape now than before I became involved mostly thanks to PB and it's members on this forum.
One of the biggest hurdles I'm finding is convincing the general club population that stocking tons of catfish has serious downfalls to the overall lake's health. People like to catch them plain and simple (one of the most poular species from a kids/family standpoint) so it's a bit of a balancing act. Sounds like from the responses the easiest near term solution is to make it a "catch you keep" scenario on the catfish and keep new stocking #'s to a bare minimum if at all for this year.

Water Fowl