Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Channel catfish

Hello everyone I'm new on here and have some questions. I stocked 50 4 to 6inch cc in my pond last Feb and watched them grow throughout the summer. They are 12 to 14 inches now but I have noticed a couple around 8 inches feeding and not sure if those are from my stocking or is it possible my fish I stocked spawned and that's offspring of those.

Chase,

The largest of your CC have not reached the size that they typically spawn (around 18"). Some may spawn this June. That the fish you stocked have a range of sizes is normal. There was some variance of size of your initial stockers. Of them some have the genes to grow faster and others may not be as inclined to compete as strongly for feed. Even the smallest will eventually grow to a good size.

Welcome to Pond Boss!!!

If you've been feeding for over a year, then I would think an 8" fish was maybe not one of the (50) stockers.

What else was or is in the pond, if any?

Do you have bullheads?

Thank you for the input and that's what I figured but wasn't sure since I'm new to this.

You are welcome, but don't just assume we're right. We're guessing too.

Share any other information you know about your pond if you like.

See this link for good general info on CC including feed and growth.

https://srac.tamu.edu/fact-sheets/serve/23

We stocked 12"-14" CC in a pond. We fin clipped all the stocked CC. 3 years later the customer called and said he had CC spawning in his pond because he caught one 12" long and all the rest were 5#. He sent me a picture and it had it's adipose fin clipped off. It never grew.

Just make sure that the small fish you are seeing aren't bullheads.

ess, I don't doubt that it happens where some fish just don't grow, but I wonder how rare it is considering the 'natural selection' vibe.

Guys, 5 years ago I stocked 25 CC 2-4 inches, last summer we caught 2- 24', 10 pound CC's and a number of smaller ones, from 8" to 16". i have seen the little ball of black swimmers in the late spring, and this is a half acre closed pond, no water way. I asked Bob Lusk about spawning and he said they could, but normally need a cavity, I think they dug one, didn't use one. This pond is solid clay. We just took out 3 CC's in the past two weeks, 28-29" and over 13 pounds, according to the chart I have they are over weight! And this surprises me because we are in Michigan, not the deep south, though I do feed all summer. For me, that is the one comment I make about CC.....they become the major predator !