I like your plan TJ. The only thing I might do a little different is ladder stock the catfish, a small number the first year, a higher number the second year, and maybe even a higher number in year three. The smaller initial stocking with less competition will become the trophy class, the higher density subsequent stockings will be for carp control.

I was thinking about doing that shorty. But I'm concerned that the first year BC will eliminate any subsequent stockings. Maybe I can grow them in cages til 12" or so.

Also I have no idea where to get a significant number of stocker flatheads. So they may not be a realistic option.

I don't know much about BC, but flatheads will eventually eat every fish in your pond of 1/2 acre. Yep, you will have some big flatheads but nothing else and the flatheads will only grow until they run out of food. It happened to a guy up the road who had a pond with too many little bluegill. He only pu 2 flatheads, one 10 pound and one 8 pounds out of our local river in to control the BG. When he drained the pond 7 or 8 years later to clean it out, the 2 catfish were the only fish in it. One was about 25 lb and the other about 18. A few would be okay in a much larger pond or lake.

Great point Poppy - smaller bows can't withstand the pressure of apex predators with that top end size potential. However, in this case we're looking at a 20 acre BOW - so I think the stocking strategy I recommended will be OK. Ladder stocking via Steve is a good idea, providing you can source the cats seasonally which is not a given. Remember, Corey has rather waived the white flag on managing the current sport fishery and his new goals are shifting to allow cats to grow on all available forage - so maybe subsequent stocking of Gizzard shad and bullhead would be beneficial down the road? One of my dream projects was a larger bow [10 acres+] stocked with BC, CC and FHC with the goal of growing trophy cats and everything else considered forage...I think this is an awesome project and don't know it's ever been performed before. Groundbreaking stuff!

I would love it if the only fish remaining were large BC and FHC. In fact I'd say that's my goal at this point. I highly doubt they'll ever eradicate all of the carp though.

With the CGC (Common German Carp - CC is Channel Catfish) in there, he might not need to stock any GS. They are pretty prolific.

Blues can be sourced down Texas way, I'm not sure about Flatheads.

When Overton acquired his existing fish farm more than ten years ago, it was called Catfish Meadows:
"The D&B strain of blue catfish got its name at the D&B Fish Farm in Crockett TX which has since gone out of business. This strain was also shared by the Catfish Meadows hatchery and continues to exist as broodstock and fingerlings."





We have a 12+lb Overton BC in our little pond for biomass control. I want to remove it but it is still doing it's job and son Jeff keeps it as his pet...
George

Awesome George. Thanks for sharing. I had been looking over Overton's sight and was hoping to find a way to retrieve their strain all the way to Nebraska.

Betcha could make it happen!
I would love to have a pond/lake full of BlueCat and Common Carp. Carp are now being seriously pursued and now called "Golden Bones" by some fly fishermen.
They will put a run into the backing that will stand up the hair on the baci of your neck - BC will make you think you have a bear by the tail...
G/

Improving the size of Carp in the pond is actually another one of the benefits that has played into my stocking strategy. For the last 15-20 yrs I have not seen a carp above 3 lbs. Maybe a bunch of BC and FHC will thin them out to the point that I get some monsters in there. Or better yet, maybe they will all be gone

Trophy FHC and BC all night, then in the morning flycast for some 20# CGC - sounds like a very unique plan that can work. It would be the first of it's kind, I believe, and a total blast.

I think you are on the correct plan to make it a great fishery for your goals. Now just to source the Flatheads!

I'm very interested to see if there will be water quality/clarity changes and vegetative changes with a diminished carp population. Like Teejaeh said, it's very unique and unusual plan. It'll essentially be a big experiment for me.

I think one can safely assume clarity will improve with reduction of CGC, along with it increased aquatic vegetation, and healthier water.

Son had a couple BC they had bought from the pet store and raised in an aquarium. They let them go in their one acre pond I refurbished for them. We stocked it with 5-6" BG this spring along with some FHM and about ten CC and some RES fingerlings. Will put some LMB in next year.

I hope the two BC are not a mistake, but think they will be ok as long as they catch them out and eat them before they get too big. Have no clue to what the gender of the two BC were.

Pet store told them they were the same BC that were used to stock ponds with. That is all I know about their origin.

A couple big muskie and Flatheads WOULD be a rather sadistic, but fun scenario to watch unfold....If rotenone is an option, who cares if there is a DO crash?!?!?! In all honesty, as the big apex predators slam the trash fish, DO will go up from fewer consumers and transformed biomass (lunch).

** as the big apex predators slam the trash fish, DO will go up from fewer consumers and transformed biomass **

That's an excellent point I hadn't considered Rainman. Thanks.

I wanted to bump this thread to see if anyone was wanting to share recent experiences with Blue Catfish. With the help of TJ, I'm about to embark on an attempt at a trophy blue catfishery and was gathering as much info as I can.

We have a pond with BC and FHC that started getting stock around 8 years ago. Some of our BC are in the upper 20's with a few in the 30's. Can't catch them on CC baits what so ever. It's always got to be fresh cut bait or live BG.

What do you have for forage fish in that Catfish pond Snakebite? Also, what are all the types of fish in that pond?

Thanks Snakebite. That's exciting to read. I'm really hoping for my Blue Cats to wipe out my carp population and explode in size in the process.

Did you/ Do you feed your BC pellets? Do the FHC show up to pellets ever? How many per acre did you stock?

@fishnchips forage fish BG,RES,Mosquito Fish,GSH, FHM,Crayfish,Bull frogs. BCP,LMB,GC,CC all in good size ranges.

@ NEDOC we feed right before dusk, CC mostly come up, but in the spring or fall the BC will come in as well.

I've got blues in a ~3 acre pond, they've been there for about 7 years and are reproducing. Pretty fair populations of BG,RES,GSF for forage. The LMB population has definitely suffered-I think the larger BCs, up to about 25lbs, are fairly heavily feeding on LMB in the ~12" range. The BCs seem to have altered BG behavior--I frequently see schools of BG in the middle of the pond, feeding on the surface almost like trout. I think they're afraid to get close to shore where the BCs hang out. I never see this behavior in another pond a couple hundred yards away that doesn't have BCs.
The BCs seem much more piscivorous than CC. I frequently catch them in the 2-3# range on crankbaits in shallow water, sometimes 3 or 4 an evening.
I would think, over time, that BCs could really help with your carp issues.

Thanks YolkSac. That's interesting. A 25 lb fish in Nebraska on a crank bait is hard for me to even imagine!