Thanks for your replies so far. When I started working on this pond my bass were all pretty much 6-8" and skinny. In 2017, when I stocked the catfish the bass were averaging between 8-12". I did some research through the Missouri Dept. of Conservation and was told to stock the larger cats from the hatchery (6-8") so I hope they were large enough to prevent the bass from getting them. I will take your advice and start feeding them and will hopefully have a positive post in a few weeks about all of my cats. Thanks again for the tips. This site is awesome!