Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations how good are CC at being a predator fish

Have a two yr old 1 to 2 acre pond.[it's dry here]
Stocked last spring with 100 8" CC 5# fatheads 300 red ear and 300 coppernose. This spring I added another 100 8" CC. Still have about 80 of the origional cats and they are 20 to 23" long.

I seen to have way too many small coppernose in the pond I based this on the abundant amount of 1/2 to 3 inch I catch with my casting net.

I have no bass do I need some or will the CC do the job of thinning. yes I do feed twice a day

Dave,

I think you answered your own question. While CC are definitely predators and will eat small and large BG, they are not nearly as efficient as bass.

I'm sure that feeding the CC makes them even less likely to feed on the BG as the main course.

Even if you are not a big bass fan, I think you will eventually need to stock some to keep the BG from overpopulating.

Ditto

Thanks for the replies, they are appriciated.
The pond was built for my grandkids so i'm not too interested in bass except for control of the brim. How many and what size bass would you suggest.
Also I read a post where someone was stocking just female bass, would that work?

High densities of small to medium size bass(under 15")will keep your panfish from stunting and will promote good growth rates of the BG in your pond. My thoughts on just the female LMB would be that that might not be the best way to keep the BG population under control, you will probably want to keep some LMB reproduction going on as the pond ages to continually keep the small to med. BGs under control.

David,

If you are concerned about LMB overpopulating, and indeed in most ponds that is exactly what happens, maybe you should consider HSB as a predator. They will be considerably more efficient than CC's, but perhaps not as efficient as LMB at controlling the BG. In the pond that I have HSB, I have the largest BG I have ever seen anywhere.

The HSB will not reproduce, will grow very rapidly, and are great eating and fighting fish. You would need to be careful about having too much overall biomass as time goes forward, but presumably you will be removing the CC's as they mature.

If you go with LMB, a bunch of hungry 10"-12" bass could be a lot of fun for the kids. (I'm planning on them being a lot of fun for me in my BG-emphasis pond.)

David :

Good advice from both Theo and ML. Either method ( LMB or HSB )will work . You have a choice based on what you want the pond to be. If you like a put and take pond for CC and HSB with a balanced pond of BG/RE that will work. LMB will control the BG better at all sizes as they have larger mouths at the same age as HSB but LMB will tend to over populate and you will need to fish some out. Both methods require active management and will work well. If you want you could even use HSB and add a few female LMB in the 14-16 in. range to control the larger BG while you judge what you like. If you can keep the pond in balance to meet your goals by watching the different populations and adjusting them you would have a very versatile pond to enjoy. ewest

David Clay, Ever tried blues??? they will keep your bluegill in check....TRUST ME....I KNOW...

A couple of flatheads might even help keep all of the rest of the fish in the pond in check as well!