I stocked some 2-3lb cats in my pond for salamander eradication before I put FHM in. About 2 months down the road, knowing the sallies were taken care of I decided to try and feed the cats. These were large lake-caught cats and I was told you can't feed train these but on night #2 the first 1-2 came to feed. It got better as the days went by. I have 4-5 left in pond and I've observed a few things. Cats anywhere love ole'Roy dog food. Very seldom can I ever get them to come to Optimal Jr., but they come gang busters for Optimal bass. CC are sometimes a bit sly around the feed, they're cautious and sneaky at times. We don't give them the credit they deserve in some cases and others, we assume they hammer smaller fish and are a very active predator using up our more desirable YOY.
I've found that's not the case in my example. In 7 cats removed, (4-9lbs)none had bones or anything to indicate fish in stomach contents but all had algae. This is why the state uses them in FHM ponds as do 2 fish farms in KS I know of. They are a poor predator and can be easily feed trained.
I better edit this to say Channel Cats.. Not referring to Blues or flathead-totally different situation there.
Last edited by Snipe; 09/04/19 10:07 PM.
