Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Wish I had found this site beforehand

My summer project was building a 4 acre pond on my property. Bought an old D7 Cat and built it on weekends by myself. It is fed by a running stream. I left the timber standing on the edges of the streambed and piled numberous brush piles for cover. It filled in early November. I stocked it in early December with 500 channel cat 6-8", 500 channels 8-12", 800 coppernose (medium 3-5") 600 redear, and 22 lbs of fatheads for the initial stocking. Been hand feeding once a week but haven't seen anything eat yet. I love crappie so I'll confess that a couple of weeks later I put 100 small (1-2") Black Crappie in. Wasn't going to put any bass in. But after finding this site I guess I probably better. Here in east Texas, bass usually find their way into your pond somehow anyway. How many bass and when should I stock?? Also, did I understock the other species and was the crappie stocking a bad idea?? Hope my ignorance is not too expensive mistake. I also plan to add an automatic feeder this spring. For this size pond is one feeder adequate? Sorry for so many questions, but you guys seem to know your business.

Thanks,
RatherBFishin

Welcome!
I'm sure you'll get some very good advise soon.

To start with it would have been preferable to have established your forage base waiting until next fall to plant your preditors.

It's going to become difficult to establish LMB with 1000 6" to 12" cats present even if you do it now. If you wait it will be almost impossible because of the crappie unless you put in adult bass.

If it were my pond I would bite the bullet & go ahead & stock the LMB now using 6" to 8" fish. Follow with another stocking of fathead minnows late spring & again in mid summer. Definitely get a feeder, prob. 2.

Please note this is just my opinion. You'll be getting more sound advice from more knowledgable folks soon.

250 channel catfish per acre are a lot of catfish in a normal recreational sportfish pond. When these fish are about 16"- 18" long, and if you have 900 of them in abt 7 -16 months, they will collectively be eating 40 to 60 pounds of total food per day for proper growth. This includes natural and or artificial foods. If they do not get this amount of food growth will be slower than normal. Also with this many catfish expect your water to be continually cloudy due to the activity of the catfish working the sediments in search of food due to the high density of fish and shortage of forage items. Continually cloudy water will stiffle filamentous algae and rooted weed growth which some see as a positive.

Also since a stream enters your pond expect native fish from the stream to enter the pond and establish themselves. Your main problem in this area will probably be with species such as bullheads, probably carp and green sunfish (TX green perch. These fish are basically bad becasuse they take up "fish growing space" that could be used by more desirable and intended fish. Native minnows should not be problem in your pond.

Expect the catfish to successfully reproduce and add to their numbers without a bass populaiton present. You could easily get in a situation where catfish are stunted in your pond. Be aware of this situation. Manual thinning of their numbers may be neceassary to maintian good growth rates. I have very little experience with how cannibalistic they are and if they will provide any population self control.
The high numbers of catfish could theoretically provide predator control for the coppernose, redear, crappie, fatheads and trash fish from the creek. But if the cats keep the water cloudy the panfish and BASS will have a hard time seeing through murky water to feed properly and overall growth of these sight-feeding fish will be slower than normal if not poor. Do not expect them to do well in murky water - visibilities less than 18"-20". Water visibility of at least 24" is best for bass feeding.

I am not a big fan of catfish. A few are okay in a pond but high numbers of them I think cause more overall water quality problems for an overall general sport fishery than they are worth. If you love catfish for catching and eating then manage the pond for them as the top line predator. Seek good management information from those that are truly experienced with high density catfish ponds. Supplimental feeding will no doubt improve their growth. After you have lived with this current pond stocking combination and its output results for the next 10 to 15 years, I think you will decide to renovate this pond and restock. Plan for this and be prepared to physically and financially perform this in your long term pond management plan.

A few catfish experts may be able to provide additional help for you. We don't have very many true catfish experts that frequent this site; our mentor Bob Lusk is probably the one with the most catfish raising experience here.
You might try this site for advice with catfish raising. http://aquanic.org Note there may also be a NOAA Sea Grant regional site in your area of the country.

I was going to wait to stock the LMB cause I was afraid the other fish wouldn't get a good head start. How many LMB do you recommend I stock in this size pond?

RatherB...stocking seems a simple project. But, things get a little cloudy sometimes, depending on your goals. Here's standard stocking rates. Stock 5 to 10 pounds of fathead minnows per surface acre. In Texas, stock 750-800 bluegill per acre, with 200-250 redear sunfish per acre. If you want catfish, stock up to 100 per acre, unless you want more. But, the more catfish you stock, the more you will need to harvest. Actually, true catfish aficionados may stock as many as 1,000 per acre, as long as they are harvesting when fish reach a pound to pound and a half. So, I usually tell people to stock as many catfish as they actually think they will use over two or three years. Stock a few, add some later, restock as harvest progresses. Look at channel catfish as a "put and take" species. After forage fish have been in place for a season, then stock bass fingerlings at the rate of 50-75 per surface acre.
And, I always try to dissuade people from stocking crappie. Crappie overpopulate small waters.
Now, if I were you, I would stock more bluegill now, then add 50 bass fingerlings per acre when available next spring. As crappie reach catchable size, remove them. Focus on bass growth. They will be your top line predator, the fish which adjusts numbers of other species.

Thanks Bob for the help.