Hey everyone, I held off on making this post because I've been reading through tons of old posts but haven't quite found the answer to my question. I've got an existing .4-.2 acre pond on my property that I want to turn into a catfish only pond. I intend to buy a feeder at the same time I buy my fish, and then aerate it in the future when I get power pulled to the property. This will be for friends and family as well as business contacts and their kids to pull fish out of for food. I am not planning on doing any spawning structure in the pond and will restock each year. The only source of water for this pond is runoff so we are at the mercy of the weather to get fresh water into the pond. The pond swells to .4 acres or larger during the spring, and then as the summer months roll in it drops considerably to only 1/5 of an acre. Since I'm assuming the hot summer months are putting the most stress on the fish, it seems logical to use that water body size as the limiting capacity amount. I'm in the Austin, TX area. One last detail is that we have the little mosquito fish in this pond. Not sure how they got in there, but I would assume that even if I drain this thing to ensure no other fish, they will likely find a way back in. I'm assuming they are coming in from neighboring ponds during exceptionally large rain storms. What is the maximum fish load that you would put in this pond without aeration and then with aeration? Thanks in advance.
