gregWV - As you are now probably realizing, There is a lot to proper pond management. There are basic laws of Mother Nature that have to be dealt with. It is importaant to understand those rules or laws. The bigger the pond is the more forgiving it tends to be about those rules; at least it takes longer for a larger pond to "puke".
Don't get dejectd too soon about rasing quality fish in a small pond. We all have a learning curve, and you are just on the beginning of the curve. Everyone is somewhere on that curve.
It may help you to think of a pond in terms of an agricultural crop and/or garden. One can only naturally pasture so many cows, horses, sheep or grazers on an acre of grass or less. The smaller the patch of grass/ground becomes, the fewer animals that it can sustain without getting over grazed and the whole patch of grass becoming a barran area of dirt, that has been over grazed and trampled by too many animals. To then keep those animals relatively healthy and still growing the "farmer" has to suppliment their food by adding feed into the pen with those animals. As the animals reproduce the extra youngsters can soon make the "pen" overcrowded. Overcrowding leads to sickness, and death starts to move through the herd / stock. As in a field or garden the crop needs to be periodically harvested or thinned to keep it growing properly. Mother Nature Rules.
As a responsible pondowner it is your responsibility to the live stock to learn and live by or within the rules.
I refer you again to a Pond Boss article by Bob Lusk our fisheries "hero" and Pond Boss. In the current issue of PBoss magazine (Jan Feb 06) Bob provides a very good informatin filled article about channel catfish. That article answers many of your questions about CC.
You should not get too discouraged because you have two small ponds. There are ways to grow some really nice fish in small ponds.
It just seems everyone on the forum has large ponds. Not true. Some large fish talked about here are grown in small ponds. See posts by Cecil Baird and Bruce Condello who both raise fish in ponds similar to yours.
As for a small pond, see this link for what can be raised in a small 0.12 ac pond (59'x88'). There are some pretty smart fish raising people here.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002265#000000 http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002293;p=1#000005 I can not find the picture of Cecil's three small ponds or photos of Bruce's ponds and some fish from his ponds. If you want to see some of Bruce's large bluegills see past Pond Boss article March/April 05 "Building The Perfect Bluegill" pg. 20.
So you can raise some large fish in small ponds, however you may have to do it just a little differently than how they do it in large ponds. This forum site is sort of OVERWHELMING when it comes to sorting through all the information on here. Keep searching, reading and asking questions and you will get a better idea of what to do with your two small ponds. Some of us can help you find something if you are having trouble finding a topic to learn from.
By spring (April or May) decide on a reasonable goal then try it in one of your ponds. Experience is a very good teacher. We can help you along the way. Keep good notes as you go along so we can provide better advice.
As I said earlier, since your ponds are small, you can easily start over if things are not going the way you want them. Those with large ponds do not have this ability to change as quick and as easily as you will be able to do it.
As far as feeding and stocking, from my experience, since you are fairly new at this start with a a normal or just a little above normal density. Feed them, and they will grow. Generally, they will grow better, faster and be healther at a lower density that at a higher or maximum density. The fewer fish you have in there the more forgiving Mother Nature be when you make some mistakes.
Many fish that youuse will probably reproduce and soon you will have too many fish and thinning will be necessary. So don't worry about putting in over the normal amount in the beginning. Over stocking and crowding can be done when you have more experince. It seems to me that since you were not too keen on initially buying fish to stock money may be somewhat of an object. If so, stocking at lower densities will help lessen the "dent" in you wallet. Fewer fish will also mean less fish food to buy to keep them growing.
