Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Whats the chances....

of all my catfish dieing and none of the others and never seeing a dead fish?

I have been trying all spring to catch CC and have only caught 3 and one that broke my line, I wonder if there are any in there bcoz none come up to feed. They did the last part of March but we had a hard freeze the first of April and they havn't fed since.

I doubt a hard freeze would lead to a catfish die off. But perhaps they ran into some other problem. Remind us what other species you have. They are all active?

Theo, I have Bass and BG in there, yes they all seam to be happy and active. I can see movement in the water... very low visability...and can catch small BG and Bass, but can't seam to catch many CC's.

Oh yeah some FM and a bunch of Bullfrogs.

My cats seem to go thru different phases WRT eating pellets-they were on the feed hot and heavy earlier this spring, now I seldom see them-but they'll readily hammer a 6" GSF, so I know they're alive and well.

How are you fishing for them?

How well "educated" do you think they are?

Any chance they've fallen victim to pirates [poachers]?

Yolk Sac, I have been using Liver, and as far as educated, I guess they could be, but not many of them have been hooked, so maybe they are just spreading the word


As far as the Poachers I really doubt that is the problem...you would have to go by my house to get to the pond and you cant see it from the road and not many perople even know it is there.

I've never had much luck with liver on my pond cats-don't know why, maybe there is enough forage that they can catch what they prefer? They really do like small panfish, which is about all I use.

Sounds like poachers aren't likely, which is a blessing.

Not being able to catch catfish in poni\ds -- especially the larger catfish is a common problem. Ask Catmandoo.

I would guess they are not interested in your offering or may not even be habituating the bottom. When I worked as a biologist aid one summer, we sampled channel catfish in gillnets far above the bottom in reservoirs when forage fish were their main food source. (In that case it was gizzard shad).

Try using what forage is in the pond. If you have 2 to 3 inch minnows, try them. Figure how large the CC should be, then use a BG that will fit into the CC's mouth.(trap some small BG) Cut off some of the BG's tail and use a good sized split shot to control the bait. After a hard freeze in Apr. the water may still be a bit cool for surface feeding. Fish for them near the feeder with bobber and (injured)BG near dusk. They will come.

Thanks guys, my hubby keeps tellin' me I'm to early for CC he says wait till its so hot we can't breath and they will hit then. He may be right. I just love to fish and get a little over anxious.