I am having the same black blobs around my pond this year. I have also caught about 35 yellow cats about 10-12 in long this weekend. My pond is completely surrounded by crayfish ponds. These fields are completely dry and plowed half of the year. As soon as the farmers flood the field, birds and turtles enter the field that have eggs attached to them from the bayous, canals, and ditches. The birds and turtles then move into my pond. They are actually draining the crayfish fields right now and their are literally thousands of small yellow cats in the ditches now. I know that I did not get them from the hatchery. Actually, I think I may be a hatchery now. Good news is that they are easy to catch. A crayfish tail on the bottom will catch them every time for me. If you have egrets are gray herons in your pond, you will get cat fish. Especially in Louisiana.
