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

in the spring the pond was nice and clear , probably a nice 3 ft.. then we had storm after storm and visibility went to 12" and has stayed there. great for all the fry. i put in way to many cats , 100 in acre pond. i have removed about 30 . they are getting in the 3 to 4 lb range. i feed them twice a day. could the cats be looking for food in the bottom and messing up the clarity. does anybody else have this problem with cats or had. thank you

I here that Bullheads root around on the bottom like that for forage....But I have never herd of channels doing that..

I am convinced that channel cats stir up bottom sediments. This occurs especially when cats are big enough for spawning. Mature cats will clear out areas for spawning. Big cats can be powerful. I think some try and make dens or dugout areas for spawning. We have seen this actually occur in a local pond; a bushel basket sized cavity dug out about 20" -28" deep into and thru the upper stone ledge surrounding the pond.

Several local pondowners have complained that when they have large numbers of cats in their pond the water is cloudy: visibility is less than 18" - 24" and phytoplankton densities are quite low. Suspended bottom materials and detritus is the problem. We remove all cats and the water clears up.

I have heard about this but never seen this catfish habit. I heard cats as a group will clear out a large circular or oval area of the bottom down to the hard pan where they "rest" during inactive periods during the day. Depth of this "cleared out area" will be dependant on stratification layer and oxygen levels. Conflicting information is large cats are solitary and territorial. A old fish raiser has told me that when he puts several large channel cats (20+") in a holding tank; the next morning 1 or 2 will be all skinned up and killed.

I think catfish will stir the bottom when food items are limiting. Cats will search and stir the sediments for invertebrates if they cannot find enough food. A bottm bubbler aerator will then "fan, pump, or mix" these disturbed sediments higher into the water column. Continuous aeration will tend to keep these particles in suspension depending on their size.

Too many white amur (grass carp) that have eaten all the palatable plant material will also stir or disturb sediments in search of invertebrate food when plant foods are in short supply.