Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Blue Catfish supplier for Indiana

Anyone find a blue catfish supplier for Indiana? The DNR list is not accurate.

Not sure where you can get some but I can't wait for you to get them. I need someone else on this forum sharing the experience with me!! My pond is pretty much managed for blue cats. It'd be nice to learn from others experiences.

How big is your pond and what other species are in your pond? What other species would you include if you were starting over? How long have your blues been in the pond and how big are they?

I've got carp, crappie, bluegill and channel cats in mine. My pond is 15 acres. Two years ago I stocked 100 BC in the 8-10" range. Last fall I stocked another 250 and then a week ago I stocked another 200. So I now have a total of 550 BC. I'm guessing my biggest ones are about 22-23" and close to 5 lbs. In regards to relative weight they are doing much better than my channel cats. If I was starting over I'd go with bluegill and crappie for their reproductive capability. Maybe even let them overpopulate before introducing the BC.

I know you've been told about the Blue Cats at Osage Catfishery in Missouri and you thought it was too far. But it looks like its only about 6 hrs from you. You may wanna look into transporting them, or call and see if they make a delivery your direction and you could meet them part way. That's where my BC are from and I believe they do well in ponds. Or at least mine have so far.

At minimum I'd call them and ask if they deal with anyone in your area.

My new pond is quite small (1/2 acre), so I think that I will face more of a challenge than you. I am considering crappie as food since I do not have them in either of my other two ponds. Osage may be the way to go if I take an aerated tank and travel in cool weather. Maybe make a field trip out of it with one of my young-adult kids. For now, I am hoping for more filling so I can add a pound of FHM on Nov 4 (last "fish day" close by). If I get blue-cat reproduction, my neighbor may want a couple in their 1 acre pond that has carp? A 15 acre pond must be very nice! Thank you for the information.

I'll do a search for my aeration unit you can hook up to a 12 volt battery. It was cheap and would work perfect for a 6 hr trip.

How many are you considering?

I would just use a feeder as your prime food source when they're young.

Here is the one I use and I don't think I'd have any trouble hauling several hundred for several hours.

https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Metal-Supe...+fish+saver+kit

Thank you!!! What is the smallest tank it would work for? I will probably start with 12 small catfish. What type of tank has worked well for you?

That may be way more than you need for 12 small catfish. I�d think a medium sized cooler would be plenty. I�ve used small livestock tanks. Maybe 80 gallon or so. And I�ve hauled 250 at a time although it was under 2 hrs. That little aeration unit I have above is handy to have for a lot of things though.

Do you drill holes through the lid of the cooler for the electric lines to keep water from splashing out?

I don�t think you�d have to do that. Maybe duct tape the lid down to make sure it doesn�t lose too much at once and carry an extra cooler of water to replenish if need be. But I don�t think you�d lose much.

I use a livestock tank with sheet a plywood over the top to minimize water loss.

You must carry them in a pickup, rather than in the cab or trunk:) My new "old" pickup only went 55 MPH max when brand new.

RAH, those tires are looking a bit thin in the tread area......

I've seen better days myself. I have other equipment with tires in much worse shape. Need new rear tires on the backhoe and that will be $$$$. The M37 has split rims so I will not be changing the tires on this truck myself. Once other things are fixed up, replacement military tires are in order. It was converted to an alternator which is dead. The new 24V replacement was pricey too. This is probably a money pit, but I enjoy working on it with my son. He wants to take it to shows when not going in his 66 Newport. He likes old Mopar. I will not go with military paint though. Thinking a forest green and black combo. Went max 55 MPH when new and got 5 MPG, but fine on the farm and short trips for diesel for equipment.

Pond is filling and we are expecting more rain this week. Planning to add a pound of FHM next Saturday and hope they can tolerate the muddy water?

Good luck. Keep us updated.

Is there any disadvantage of stocking the "rosy red minnow" variant of FHM?

The only disadvantage that I can think of is that since they are more visible, they may be easier pickings.

In my 2,000 square foot minnow pond, I stocked probably 250 Rosy Reds along with about the same number of common FHM in early March 2016. Now, there are very few Rosy Reds left. There are no predators in the pond. I think the common variety is dominant and the "Rosy Red" breeds out after a couple of generations. The pond has very limited visibility, maybe 4-6", so bird predation is not a problem. I am going by what I find in my minnow traps.

Thanks for the posts. I'll just stock the regular FHM.

update: added a pound today.

If I decide to stock crappie as forage for the blue cats, would it make sense to stock golden shiners or yellow perch as forage for the crappie when the FHM get hammered?

Fellow members and fish managers,

For years now I have tried to find a reliable source if blue cats for my pond for over 15 years now!!! I have put many requests on this forum looking for someone. Can't find it the only person I know of is Overton .. I have not had a chance to contact him for help yet. I need someone who will pick the fish up from Overton and deliver them here to Georgia, zip code 30667.

Please another desperate plea if anyone knows of anyone in the Georgia area who Carries Blues I need some badly!!

Thanks

Check this link. Then use control F to bring up a search box and type 'blue catfish' in the search. Each time you hit enter or the down arrow in the search field you will go to the next entry. I see several suppliers on this list in OH and Kentucky. A similar search for fish farms in your area and in neighboring states may come up with something.

Fish suppliers

I would check with Rainman here on the forum. I seem to recall he has access to Blues (and Hybrid Blues) and makes deliveries to both Indiana and Georgia. It might be worth sending him a PM.

Thanks a lot ,

How would I find the same sight like this for South Carolina Georgia and Alabama?

Thanks again I will look for suppliers in Kentucky...
Thanks again

Rainman has a supplier just west of him. And the genetics are for pond raised blues that I've had good luck with. So it may be worth it to contact him if he makes deliveries to Georgia.

I you are looking for blue catfish in Indiana, I would get in touch with Paul Hitchens at SIU-Carbondale. You can get in touch with him at 618-453-5590 or hitchens@siu.edu. He can point you in the right direction.

Thank you - I sent an email.

Did you send the email to me??
I hope you did

Sent to the email provided by Acoursey near Indiana. He has some but I am not yet sure if he ships them.

I doubt he can ship them as they are too big, but he may be able to arrange delivery. I spawned the fish he has available now in July of 2016 and they should be about 1-1.5lbs. There should be some larger fish available as well that are 5 lbs+.

Can't wait to hear how this turns out!!

Delivery is way too pricey for me, but I may be in the area sometime.

Does anyone know if blue catfish will spawn in old backhoe tires if I add them to the new pond? I will need to replace the ones on my machine this winter.

I would think they would. They like to have a cavity, but I have had them spawn in ponds without a hole or cavity as well.

Just my thinking, but you may wanna keep blue catfish spawning to a minimum. I don't think I'd add spawning structure until the time comes that you feel you need and/or want the blue catfish to spawn. They may recruit more than you want without providing cavities.

Thanks, I'll probably sink them when I change the tires. Already have a couple of plastic 55-gal drums in there. Pond is still filling, and the only thing in it is FHM so far. Please describe your experience with blue catfish in ponds.

My experience is fairly limited in that I just stocked them 2 years ago. I don't have spawning structures at this time for a couple reasons.... 1) I don't know if I want them to spawn in sufficient numbers. From what I've read they can really do a number on smaller prey fish like bluegill. If I ever want to reduce my number of blue cats, I'd rather not fight them being prolific spawners. 2) Unlike Channel Cats, Blues don't reproduce until they are older. I think they have to be around 5 lbs to spawn from what I've read. So next year is the first year spawning will be a concern for me as mine are just reaching that size.

Otherwise, I love the blue cats in my pond. Beautiful fish. And knowing they may eventually reach 20-50 lbs is enticing.

Recruitment can be spotty in some ponds even with good spawning habitat, so you may have to restock every few years. I have had them spawn at 2 years old and around 3 lbs. They have done a great job at controlling a stunted crappie population in a small lake that I managed.

Are you feeding? With only FHM, I would suggest stocking some forage fish.

To top off my ill-advised stocking of blue cats in a small pond, I am planning to stock crappie next:) If the blues do not spawn, I will not restock, but rather change my pond goals. The pond has a drain if I need to start over. I also thought about pumpkin-seed sunfish instead of crappie if I can source them. Not planning to feed regularly, just for entertainment.

Google Maps just updated the areal photo of my place. The new pond was just about complete with no water in it, and I am actually on the dozer near the end of construction in the shot. The area calculator puts it right over 0.5 acres which is the same that I calculated using a rangefinder and simple math. Still needs to fill up quite a bit.

I don�t think I�d worry about the blue cats. I�m loving mine so far.

Glad to hear that. My small pond is still filling. The water level is just up to the bottom of the 55 gal plastic drums I put in for spawning.

Overhead photo before closing the drain valve (can see small amount of water where valve is. Machine on upper end is me on dozer pulling 4' sheepsfoot roller. Pond looks close to completion but main spillway pipe not yet installed.

They are predicting over 4" of rain between tomorrow and Saturday. That should add some water to the new pond and flush the old ones! Should clean up the metal on the new barn too. Wish I could have gotten the landscape fabric and rocks around the outside to keep the perimeter from eroding!

Blue catfish food chain question - First, the pond is 1/2 acre, not full, and only has FHM in it so far. Trying to have a blue catfish pond which I know will be tough. My current plan was to add a few black crappie next as food for the blue catfish which would be added later. What do folks think of also adding GSH as food for both the crappie and blue catfish, and if so, when to add? I am better off without the GSH? I would prefer to have pumpkin sunfish as the forage, but cannot source any.

RAH I'm in Ohio and have pumpkinseed sunfish in my pond.

RAH, Why the sliding door on one side and garage door on the other side of your new barn? It looks great and it's huge!

Kris - Thanks for letting me know about the pumkinseed. I would like to find a permitted supplier if possible. Otherwise, I'll go with crappie.
John - I plan to put a garage/shop over concrete behind the right side of the barn, and a gravel equipment shed on the left side of the barn, with a wall dividing them. This may take me awhile due to time for my labor and cost. Right now, I need to mount a meter box and main panel for electric, which also is not cheap. I decided to start with a big barn which was expensive, so the rest will take time. The builder seems to have done a great job on the shell.

A couple inches from full pool!

I have a 1/2 acre pond which currently has only FHM and LCS. My plan was to add black crappie next followed by blue catfish. With this plan in mind, is there any downside to adding RES once the FHM and LCS population grows?

Update on 1/2 acre pond for blue catfish. Sunk the old backhoe rear tires. Lotus is spreading. Small fry present that are probably FHM, but could also be LCS. Still very few plants and little algae. Water level has held great, so I sunk the cable float on the drain valve. Will need to wait a while for the forage base to grow and get more plants growing before adding black crappie as the main forage for the blue catfish. Water still has the blue mineral color. Goes brown for a little while after heavy rain, but then clears.

Like to raise one like this!

https://www.omaha.com/outdoors/missouri-...3aafe79ef5.html

A fish like this one at Overton's is probably realistic...

THAT IS ONE FAT CAT at Overton's! Obviously fed, or overfed well.

Wonder if they would eat muskrats?

That's the way my blues look as well. It's crazy how thick they can become. Pigs.

Well, I have given up trying to find blue catfish in Indiana for my 3rd pond (about 1/3 acre). Will stock 10 CC, 10 black crappie, and 10 RES next spring. Hopefully, the CC will grow large and eat crappie. The FHM and lake chubsuckers have had 3 years to reproduce, but I have very few plants due to the hard clay bottom. Even my lotus is struggling. Will try to add some branch piles this fall or winter. Will hopefully finish up my 4th pond tomorrow and cap the bottom drain. I am not happy with the depth, but the bottom is unworkable due to springs that seep constantly from the side opposite the dam. Hopefully, I was successful sealing sand veins under the dam, but it was hard to keep the walls of the 2' wide core trench from filling with sand washed in by water trapped in the veins. Time will tell... It's been a long hall with my small equipment.

RAH,
I found a place with BC and they ship if you really want them.

http://www.zettsfishhatchery.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/CompleteCatalog.pdf

If my new pond fills up in time, my plan is to bucket stock around 6-8 mature Blue Cats next spring, and hopefully be able to cultivate some fingerlings to sell. Long term goal of having a "blue cats by mail" business, since I think there's a demand for them, but very few people carry them, and the ones that do, are either in TX or neighboring states, nothing on the east coast.

Heppy - Based on their catalog, Zetts appears to just sell 2 types of channel catfish (one they call "blue" channel catfish), but I appreciate you trying to help me out.

Earlier this year, I had Overton overnight me (5) blues and (5) channels.

The Blues are killing it in my pond.....in a good way.

Sure there was a cost to the overnight shipping of a cooler, but still.....if you want the blues, you can get them.

These fish had to be able to survive predation in a pond with 5 lb + LMB and over 10lb CCs, and Overton's was the only place I could get some fish of size.

Does Overton's ship blue catfish to Indiana? I can stock small fish since I do not have any large fish (biggest would be the lake chubsuckers and they have small mouths).

I don't see why not. They shipped them from Texas to Pennsylvania for me.

Sent them an inquiry. Thank you!
Update - They say that they do not ship.

RAH,
Have you tried the place below in MO?
They have blue catfish and I don’t give up.

http://osagecatfisheries.com/pond-stocking.asp

Tried to set up a purchase with a friend that visits this area, but after 3 years I have given up. Wish that a local fisherman who could definitively ID blue catfish might help out, but I am now thinking CC may be my only realistic option.

RAH I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this to begin with but I do have a source for you that travels through Indiana and previously was on Pond Boss Forum. I bought my TH feeder from him drum roll please……...

https://hbpondmanagement.com/fishstocking.html

Ask for Nate

Thank you again Heppy. I sent them a note on their website.
Update: Nate does not have the required VHS testing to cross state lines with blue catfish.

Are these the same as we catch on juggs on Grand Lake in OK? The friends I was with called them blues. We caught prolly 50 or so with an over night soak.

I am not sure what you're catching. I am not even sure that I can correctly ID blue catfish myself.

RAH if you can’t find the blue catfish, you may want to try the hybrid blue catfish. It sounds awesome!

https://hennekehatchery.com/hybrid-blue-catfish/

SRAC https://freshwater-aquaculture.exte...2019/08/Production_of_Hybrid_Catfish.pdf

Will reach out to Indiana catfishing group for help.

It sucks that Blue Cats haven't quite made it mainstream yet in the pond world. I think there's only like 3 suppliers in the entire US that have them, and all are pretty much in the same general area. There's definitely a demand, and a niche to be filled. What an awesome fish, for the catfish enthusiast.

If I can source some and they spawn, I will have to share them locally. I submitted a request to join a Facebook group dedicated to catfishing where I will see if anyone can help me out. Its a longshot, but I'll try anyway.

Have you thought about a small road trip to Illinois with a large cooler, some frozen bottles of water, and a small aerator?

I did, but I decided against it. Actually, was looking at Missouri. Thought that I had a friend who might be going there but that did not materialize.

No takers so I'll stock CC.

Like you I would prefer the blues but I think this can work if the CC are of sufficient size and weight. If you stock CC at 20 inches length, they will be more focused on fish for prey. 10 of them would put you 75 lbs per acre. That's more than what would be required from other predators but I think it fits more appropriately with CC as apex predator. The Crappie will be effective predators of fish below the lengths the CC will be concentrating. I like approaches that stretch the envelope like this and will follow with interest.

I am patient, so I will start with small fish and allow them to grow. If the black crappie reproduce too fast while the CC are growing, then I have a neighbor who would love to remove as many as I will let him keep.

It is likely that recruitment will be subdued in the early going due to large standing crops of FHM and LCS. So probably nothing worry about. I was thinking that at the stock rate you might introduce adult RES and BCP. RES even fingerlings will probably recruit the year of introduction. The BCP probably won't until the following year at the soonest but probably later. I could see the CC growing into the desired lengths for predation before substantial recruitment happens.

I am more worried about a crappie explosion before the catfish get going, but I really was hoping so few added CC, BC, and RES in a pond full of forage would leave each other alone long enough to spawn. Planning to buy the smallest size fish available and hoping 10 of each will be enough to eventually pull off spawns for each species. If it looks like any of these are not doing that, I can always stock a few larger size individuals later.

RAH, in my experience, stocking less fish and hoping that they will reproduce and fill the void has never worked like planned. One pond stocked like that had to be rotenoned and started over with the recommended amount of small fish. That was 3 years lost then waiting another 2 years after pushing the reset button for the small fish to grow big enough to harvest.

I have a source for what they say are 1 1/2# minimum Channel Cats but the last time I picked up CC from them they were actually 2#-5#.

We can deliver any sized fish order, but since there isn't any profit in the small orders we have to charge either a minimum $$ order amount or charge for actual loaded miles traveled. The overhead is the same whether 5 fish are delivered or 1,000 fish are delivered.

I had pretty good luck stocking my second pond with low numbers of FHM, GSH, LCS, RES, YP, and SMB. Maybe I was just lucky? I stocked my first pond with the hatchery-recommended numbers of RES, BG, CC, and LMB, and only had nice fish once the pond recovered from a winter fish kill that reduced numbers and eliminated the CC. I now have lots of eating size BG and some lunker LMB (along with healthy eating size LMB), but that is with removal of 60 eating size BG and ten 8-12" LMB per year. Jones hatchery now has a drop-off site not too far from me, so that makes getting a few fish cost effective. My kids drive by Clear Creek when they come to visit which is also a possibility. When I stocked my SMB, I got 10 from Clear Creek and 10 from Jones to maybe increase the genetic diversity.

Rah, if it worked for you in the past, go for it! It just hasn't worked for us is all. The fishery hasn't been as good as customers expected in the time frame they expected it. Others that have followed our recommendations on stocking rates for their expectations are happy.

My timeframe maybe longer than most. I have 300 years of plans to execute,

Will gambusia (mosquito fish) be good in a black crappie/CC pond? I have had FHM and lake chubsucker in my 3rd pond (about 1/3 acre) for a couple years. Was planning to add 10 each of RES, CC, and black crappie next spring (unable to source blue catfish). Am wondering if adding gambusia first might be desirable to act as both forage and to eat some of the predator eggs to limit over production of predators? Is there any downside? I could let the gambusia multiply for a year (or more) before adding the RES, CC, and crappie. Big issue for me right now is that plants are very sparse in the pond due to pure clay bottom and banks. I will be putting in some large hollow sycamore logs once the ground freezes up. Thanks in advance for your input!

They have done well in my pond. They in my opinion won’t venture far from shore to eat many eggs, they live in inches of water in my pond due to predators. Throw few sticks along shoreline and more than likely they will survive. Not sure the BCP will go that shallow to eat them. If your pond is fertile the crappie will thrive in open water with all the critters that a good bloom will bring. The CC will eat the BCP out in open water so you may have to give the BCP a head start. I also added FHM and golden shiners

RAH,

I don't think there is any downside to having GAMs in your planned combination. If they reduce recruitment of CC and BC, (something they could do by competition with and predation of fry), then this would likely help to moderate overpopulation. GAMs reproduce a lot and their offspring reproduce in the same year if they are born soon enough. They don't have spawning behaviors that work against them. The young are usually born swimming with yolks fully absorbed. That's a big advantage that allows a population decimated overwinter to recover to capacity by midsummer. Speaking only from my limited experience, if LMB are present, they need lots of cover to persist. They maintain populations in ponds near me particularly where there is abundant APW. One pond, which in some respects is very much like the combination you plan, has CC, GSF, and BG. Both GSF and BG are very abundant in this pond and large enough to consume GAMs but the GAMs hold their own going on now for 3 consecutive years. They reach (I think) densities that saturate the ponds ability to carry them. Every square meter has hundreds of GAMs by September within eyeshot of the shore. I see them in water much deeper than inches and I see sprays of small fish that I think are Gams evading predators too far from shore to positively identify as GAMs. I also see lots of schools of small fish that move around the open spaces disturbing the surface feeding. I think they are GAMs ... but can't say for sure.

There is never a great standing weight of GAMs even though they are numerous. But GAMs grow fast reaching reproductive age in about a month. Even adults can eat more than their body weight each day (Adult females put that energy into growth and reproduction). The point I am making is that this ravenous appetite means they are either growing very fast or that they are having a lot of offspring. So even a small standing weight can contribute as much as 10% of its standing weight (every day) to mortality and maintain the population biomass.

As far north as you are ... and in a shallow pond ... you may have significant winter losses but provided you can get 1/2 lb or so to survive each year they will rise like a phoenix to numbers that are no less than remarkable providing many, many times their overwintering standing weight in forage.

Not really a shallow pond. Max depth probably 12 feet.

Anyone else that can weigh in on adding gams to a future black-crappie/CC pond?

Added structure on the ice for catfish that will be added in spring. They will sink wherever they end up.

Rah
Did you find a source for blues?

No I did not find a source. Will have to settle for channels.

As tough as catfish are you aught to think about a road trip to Overton here in Texas

Overtons website says they are in stock now 6-8” for$1.50