Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations too many big cats

I catfish public waters almost religiously for catfish. I travel the entire midwest, southeast, and northeast for large catfish tournaments. Take it pretty serious. A few things I have noticed and key in on for tournaments:

Punchbaits work very well for small channel catfish but not for the larger ones.

All larger catfish of any species will feed on fish almost exclusively (as verified by that large vertebrae you got).

My suggestion is get some Danny King punch bait online. Set jugs or trotlines. Should get your fill of the smaller channels. For the big ones you need some good fresh oily fish. My top three (and really all I fish with in tournaments) are: 1. Mooneye 2. Skipjack 3. Gizzard Shad. I am almost positive you don't have mooneye in your area. I am not sure about skipjack. If you have them go hit the tailwaters of a dam and get a few. They get big and you will get 15 baits out of a single fish. They are super oily and big channels can't resist them. If you don't have a local source, your best option is to castnet some big shad. I find the fillet's work the best in colder water and just cut chunks in warmer water. I bet you can put a serious hurting on the big channels in your pond with some cut shad/skipjack on a trotline with a circle hook. I prefer non-offset eyes with a loop knot to the shank. Eagle Claw L2004 is a good hook and a cheap price online.

Hey Max,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like you fish for the big cats exclusively with cut bait. I can buy shad in bags but not live ones. Have you ever tried the bagged ones you can get in the bait dept of stores?

Bill D -

For cats say 8lbs and smaller I've found almost anything works - cheese dogs a favorite, cut fish, nightcrawlers, etc. For cats larger I've found fresh cut fish works the best. Crappie, bluegill, shad and trout. Catch the bait morning/day of, or if not feasible the day before and keep alive and then cut it before hooking it.

The favorite baits around here for big blue cats is cut shad or skipjack herring.

Bill D-

I do not use the bags you can buy. Tried them a couple times and fresh bait outfished it 25-1... literally.

I would go to a local lake and cast net some shad when you wanna set lines. Put directly on ice with a heavy dosh of kosher salt.

I do not fish exclusively for big cats with cut bait. I actually love live bait for the big blues and flatheads....but I wouldn't want to risk putting a live shad in my pond so I've make sure they were dead.

I make a trip every winter down to TN to stock up on skipjack. Usually fill a chest deep freeze full. But we go through a ton of work to keep them 'potent'. Soaking in a salt brine, icing, draining water, then spending a fortune vacuum sealing.

I will say that you need fresh shad/skipjack that have not been just laying in water. Drain that water and keep them on ice! It leaks the oils and blood out and they become really ineffective, really fast. People thing cats are bottom feeders but the big ones are very efficient predators. Have caught 50 pound blues cats on live bait drifting it 5 feet below the boat in 50 FOW. Seem them bust shad on the surface just like a big striper too. My number one suggestion is to get some really fresh shad and use those. I think you will be surprised by how much the catch rate will go up.

Thanks for all the tips guys. My plan was to get the CC out at 3 pounds or less but I fell down on the job of getting the angling done in time. Last one we caught this year was a 5+ pound bull. I don't have a lot left. Maybe half a dozen bigger ones that will be 4 to 5 pounds next summer and half a dozen that will be pushing 2 to 3 pounds. I don't want to eliminate CC totally from the pond. I would like to get all/most of the current herd out and then ladder stock 2 or 3 at a time just for a bonus catch.

I kind of did the same thing Bill. Fell down on the angling part later in the season. We took a bunch out early in the year and have more fish in the freezer than we will eat (maybe need to have a fish fry and invite some friends) and I was having fun catching BG so just did not get the cats out I anticipated. I'll blame it on Carolynn. She is the one that usually fishes for the CC and she fell down on the job. Kind of literally (had a knee replaced and slowed her down a little).

There is no chance of extripating the CC in our pond. I have two year classes or recruitment. Only a few of the larger size but I have caught (while fishing for BG) at least a dozen 6" CC and moved them to the old pond. Definitely not going to get rid of the CC which is fine. They are sure good eating and get a lot more meat from a 3# CC than a 3/4# BG.

Snrub, So the CC are reproducing in your pond? If so, did you intentionally put in spawning habitat for them?