Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Whers my cats

In Oct of 03 I stocked my new 1 1/2 acre pond with fish. 150lm 500gills 75hybred gills 75 shellcrackers 75 perch. I also put a bunch of fatheads in. The next spring I put a bunch more fatheads in. I also feed pellets. I then put some more shellcrackers in ( from advise) to help create feed. From the time that I put them in, I have never seen a channel cat again. Two died a few days after they were put in. All of the other fish are doing great. Growing nice. The kids and I catch gills and hybreds and perch like crazy. I try to let the LM alone for a while longer, but they are growing ok. Even with feeding pellets, I never see cats. With all of this fishing, I never catch a cat. I have tried crawlers, liver, stink baits, corn, and hot dogs. No cats.Any ideas? Can that many fish die and not be seen? What should I do?

How many/what size CC did you stock?

Hi Theo. I put in 60, 6" cats. All of the fish were size compatable. It just don't seem right that I only saw two float and that happened just a couple of days after they were put in.

I think if they were still there, they'd be 12" or more WITHOUT having had any supplemental feeding, bigger having been fed. It seems very unlikely that you would have no sightings at all.

Unfortunately, this makes it seem likely they are gone. Could 50+ CC die and leave no trace - yeah, under some circumstances I think they could (Winterkill under ice for one). I'm assuming you have regular (daily?) visual access to the pond - if not, raccoons etc. could have cleaned them up pretty quickly (I've never seen a dead fish at my pond that looked like it had been there more than 24 hours). Doubtful even persistant fishing (by poachers, otters, herons, or space aliens - water turkeys I would say were possible if we had them here) could get them all.

Can you think of any situations where they might have died? They might have been the most susceptible to low O2 problems if they were the biggest fish in the pond. Any chemical applications in the pond or watershed that might have affected them?

Theo, I walk around the pond everyday. I also like to watch the fish feed on pellets. No cats. In looking back, I had 15-25 gills die within a month of stocking. I called Fenders and they said that was to many to die. They said something about having a problem on their end and offered to give me more. Which I did not take. This could have been low O2.This is about the time I saw 2 dead cats. My pond filled very fast and was muddy. Fenders said that did not matter and I should go ahead and stock. The winter of 03-04 froze over fairly long. New pond, no vegatation, muddy, ice, I bet you have hit on something. Winter kill. I would not see them die. Now that makes me wonder about the rest of the population. I see and catch bass. Seems like plenty of gills. Would you just add a few cats and observe things for awhile? No chem. problem back then, but I just did a dumb thing and used Princep to kill algae. Pond Boss told me that I made a big mistake. I am going to do nothing from now on without Pond Boss advise. Thanks, Tom

At least CC are inexpensive, compared to other fish.