Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Catfish Stocking

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