Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Blue Catfish supplier for Indiana

Rainman has a supplier just west of him. And the genetics are for pond raised blues that I've had good luck with. So it may be worth it to contact him if he makes deliveries to Georgia.

I you are looking for blue catfish in Indiana, I would get in touch with Paul Hitchens at SIU-Carbondale. You can get in touch with him at 618-453-5590 or [email protected]. He can point you in the right direction.

Thank you - I sent an email.

Did you send the email to me??
I hope you did

Sent to the email provided by Acoursey near Indiana. He has some but I am not yet sure if he ships them.

I doubt he can ship them as they are too big, but he may be able to arrange delivery. I spawned the fish he has available now in July of 2016 and they should be about 1-1.5lbs. There should be some larger fish available as well that are 5 lbs+.

Can't wait to hear how this turns out!!

Delivery is way too pricey for me, but I may be in the area sometime.

Does anyone know if blue catfish will spawn in old backhoe tires if I add them to the new pond? I will need to replace the ones on my machine this winter.

I would think they would. They like to have a cavity, but I have had them spawn in ponds without a hole or cavity as well.

Just my thinking, but you may wanna keep blue catfish spawning to a minimum. I don't think I'd add spawning structure until the time comes that you feel you need and/or want the blue catfish to spawn. They may recruit more than you want without providing cavities.

Thanks, I'll probably sink them when I change the tires. Already have a couple of plastic 55-gal drums in there. Pond is still filling, and the only thing in it is FHM so far. Please describe your experience with blue catfish in ponds.

My experience is fairly limited in that I just stocked them 2 years ago. I don't have spawning structures at this time for a couple reasons.... 1) I don't know if I want them to spawn in sufficient numbers. From what I've read they can really do a number on smaller prey fish like bluegill. If I ever want to reduce my number of blue cats, I'd rather not fight them being prolific spawners. 2) Unlike Channel Cats, Blues don't reproduce until they are older. I think they have to be around 5 lbs to spawn from what I've read. So next year is the first year spawning will be a concern for me as mine are just reaching that size.

Otherwise, I love the blue cats in my pond. Beautiful fish. And knowing they may eventually reach 20-50 lbs is enticing.

Recruitment can be spotty in some ponds even with good spawning habitat, so you may have to restock every few years. I have had them spawn at 2 years old and around 3 lbs. They have done a great job at controlling a stunted crappie population in a small lake that I managed.

Are you feeding? With only FHM, I would suggest stocking some forage fish.

To top off my ill-advised stocking of blue cats in a small pond, I am planning to stock crappie next:) If the blues do not spawn, I will not restock, but rather change my pond goals. The pond has a drain if I need to start over. I also thought about pumpkin-seed sunfish instead of crappie if I can source them. Not planning to feed regularly, just for entertainment.

Google Maps just updated the areal photo of my place. The new pond was just about complete with no water in it, and I am actually on the dozer near the end of construction in the shot. The area calculator puts it right over 0.5 acres which is the same that I calculated using a rangefinder and simple math. Still needs to fill up quite a bit.

I don�t think I�d worry about the blue cats. I�m loving mine so far.

Glad to hear that. My small pond is still filling. The water level is just up to the bottom of the 55 gal plastic drums I put in for spawning.

Overhead photo before closing the drain valve (can see small amount of water where valve is. Machine on upper end is me on dozer pulling 4' sheepsfoot roller. Pond looks close to completion but main spillway pipe not yet installed.

They are predicting over 4" of rain between tomorrow and Saturday. That should add some water to the new pond and flush the old ones! Should clean up the metal on the new barn too. Wish I could have gotten the landscape fabric and rocks around the outside to keep the perimeter from eroding!

Blue catfish food chain question - First, the pond is 1/2 acre, not full, and only has FHM in it so far. Trying to have a blue catfish pond which I know will be tough. My current plan was to add a few black crappie next as food for the blue catfish which would be added later. What do folks think of also adding GSH as food for both the crappie and blue catfish, and if so, when to add? I am better off without the GSH? I would prefer to have pumpkin sunfish as the forage, but cannot source any.

RAH I'm in Ohio and have pumpkinseed sunfish in my pond.

RAH, Why the sliding door on one side and garage door on the other side of your new barn? It looks great and it's huge!

Kris - Thanks for letting me know about the pumkinseed. I would like to find a permitted supplier if possible. Otherwise, I'll go with crappie.
John - I plan to put a garage/shop over concrete behind the right side of the barn, and a gravel equipment shed on the left side of the barn, with a wall dividing them. This may take me awhile due to time for my labor and cost. Right now, I need to mount a meter box and main panel for electric, which also is not cheap. I decided to start with a big barn which was expensive, so the rest will take time. The builder seems to have done a great job on the shell.

A couple inches from full pool!