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#392836 11/18/14 10:55 AM
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I'm new here and I have enjoyed so far all the information on this site.

I stocked 300 3 to 5 inch catfish in my pond back in May. The pond is a 1/2 to 3/4 acre in size. I have been feeding them twice a day by feeder. The pond is at my farm and I only check on it once a week or so. My question is during the summer I would see the fish all the time when the feeder went off but now since it has cold they hardly come up at all for floating food. Is this because of the cold weather? I'm located in SE Alabama.Should I switch to sinking food?

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A lot of people quit feeding when the water temperature drops below 55.

Fish are cold blooded so metabolism and activity drops and the fish need less food.

I personally start cutting back on the amount at around 60 but watch the fish and let them have the final say. By 55 only the small minnows and small BG are still eating much. Below 55 I might throw out a little feed if it is a sunny day and the fish are following me around the bank acting hungry. But basically I'm pretty much done feeding at around 55.

That is just me. The experts can give more specifics. Some feed very limited amounts of softened feed throughout the winter. Fish dont need so much in winter.


John

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In general, fish will feed less in the cold weather. Any excess feed will be wasted, or could affect water quality.

Determine the temperature of the water, and then you can get advice on if you should continue to feed or not.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

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snrub, gave the answers.

And welcome to Pond Boss!!!!!!


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."

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Thanks guys!

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Lloyd that is normal here in SE AL. Also when we hit a string of warmer days they will do some top feeding. I feed just a mix of sinking and floating during warmer periods from Dec thru Feb..

Here is a little study about feeding Channel Cats in Alabama during Winter.

http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/highlightsonline/fall97/catfish.htm
Tom Lovell and M.K. Kim

When water temperature drops below about 68°F, channel catfish don't gain weight economically; therefore, winter feeding is expensive and inconvenient. Conventional wisdom has advocated feeding catfish through winter months to keep the fish healthy and prevent weight loss. The return on investment from winter feeding is difficult to identify because of a lack of data on weight changes and feed efficiency with various feeding schedules. An AAES study suggests that partial winter feeding—where the fish are not fed during December, January and February—will yield fish of almost equal harvest size in the spring as continuous feeding throughout the winter.

The study was designed at the AAES to evaluate effects of three winter management regimens with two sizes (fingerlings and harvestable size) of catfish on weight change over winter and rate of gain by the fish the following grow-out season. The two sizes were stocked separately in earthen ponds on Nov. 1, 1995, and managed until April 23, 1996, on three feeding regimes: (1) no feeding; (2) restricted feeding, which meant no feeding during the months of December, January, and February; and (3) continuous feeding by a prescribed winter feeding schedule based on water temperature.

The fish were removed from the ponds the following spring and weight change, feed conversion, body composition, and processing yield were determined. Subsequently, fish from each of the over-winter treatments were placed back into the ponds and fed for the following six-month growing season to determine effects of the previous over-winter management scheme on fish performance during the next grow-out period.

The large fish on restricted feeding increased their weight by 41% over winter (Table 1), which was only slightly less than that of the continuously-fed large fish (48% increase). The large fish without winter feed lost 10% of their initial weight. The relative weight changes for the small fish showed a similar trend. Feed conversions were 1.6 for fish on restricted feeding and over 2.0 for continuously-fed fish in both size groups. Dressing yield for the food-size fish was not different between the fed groups, but was significantly lower for the non-fed fish. There were no significant losses to disease in any of the treatments.



At the end of the subsequent grow-out season, the large fish overwintered under the restricted feeding regime were slightly larger than those that had been continuously fed; the fish not fed during winter gained faster but did not quite reach the harvest weight of the other fish (Table 2). The smaller fish showed essentially the same responses as the large fish in relative weight changes. Feed conversions and dressing yields were not statistically different among treatments within both size groups.
These results indicate that a partial winter feeding program, where channel catfish are not fed during December, January, and February, will yield fish of almost equal harvest size at the end of winter and at the end of the next grow-out period as full-feeding over winter in Alabama. Fish not fed for a six-month winter period will lose 8 to 10% of weight during winter; however the fish will grow faster during the following grow-out season and will reach a harvest weight only slightly less than that of winter-fed fish.


Lovell is a Distinguished University Professor and Kim is a former Doctoral Graduate Research Assistant of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures

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Welcome to Pond Boss, Lloyd...


...when in doubt...set the hook...
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Lloyd,

Welcome to Pond Boss.

As mentioned above,catfish eating/feeding really slows down with cooler temperatures. You are in an area that can grow a lot of catfish in a short time.

But it is not the feeding or growth that concerns me.

Unless you are planning to sein, or otherwise do large scale harvesting, you have a pretty heavy potential catfish biomass pond. Those 3-5 inch catfish will probably be at least 8-12 inches next spring, maybe bigger. If you keep feeding them next summer, many will be around 18 inches or larger by late next summer.

Catfish are tough. At this point, and early next season, you won't see a lot of mortality. However, as the fish grow and the water warms next spring and summer, they will require a lot of tending.

You will be pushing the limits of your pond unless you add a good aeration system or you start taking a lot of them out of the pond.

I would expect that without a die-off, you could easily have over 500 pounds of fish in that pond -- that would be about a 1000 pounds per acre. Such rates can usually only be maintained by commercial growers with lots of equipment and experience.

I could be way off. I hope that others with catfish experience will post their experience and suggestions.

Regards,
Ken


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What would be a good goal for number of catfish in the size pond of mine next summer? I don't want to have a big kill off. We have a well at the pond but like everything else on my old farm it doesn't work. I may try to get it fixed to help keep the pond full.

I thought the catfish would be easy fish for my kids to catch and we like to eat them.

What size pellets do you recommend for sinking food?

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Well water may be devoid of dissolved oxygen, and a simple fix is to have the water cascaded or splashed around a bit before entering the pond.

Catfish do get hook shy, so if thinning out their numbers is on your list of goals, keep every one that you catch.

Some of my catfish will eat the Aquamax Largemouth, and that feed does sink if it gets soaked enough. You can pre-soak it before feeding also.

According to a dental hygienist I know, you should soak the Aquamax Largemouth for a few minutes before feeding it just to help the digestion of the same.


Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."


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