Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Will turtles kill all of my catfish

I have a small pond, a little less than a 1/4 acre. 1/1/2 years ago i put 50 CC in and all was good i was feeding them up to about 2 months ago, now that its been warming up ive tried to fish for them and feed them but no sign. Ive caught LMB and sunfish but no CC. Is it possible they have been eaten? I can see about 12 slider turtle and 2 snappers.

Nah. CC are more of a warm water fish, vs. a cooler water fish. I bet you will start catching them when the water temp gets into the 70's. WATER, not air. Also, CC get VERY hard to catch once they have been caught and released ONCE. I tell all my customers that if they catch a CC, that they should keep it. They aren't expensive to restock, and the fish that they eat once they get around 3# and bigger is a considerable amount. The LMB in the pond could use that food.

Look at Stubby Steve's for artificial fish food pellets. They make smaller ones and "Chubby Stubby" pellets that are about 1" in size. I have caught every fish that eats pellets in the pond on them, and a friend uses them to fish for trout in the rivers/streams that the state stocks.

Thanks esshup, i havent activley fished for them since i put them in although i did catch one last fall on a jig. This year i planned to start removing them . It really can get expensive to keep forage in my pond. Atleast for this retired guy.

I am going to eliminate the slider turtles because they are pests when trying to fish with live bait.

Growing up we would fish the evening, camp, and then fish the next morning and then head home before noon. That was usually a fun trip, and designed to just skip the poor fishing in the middle of the day.

However, we did learn the lesson that turtles will certainly chomp on fish that are left overnight on a stringer. When we had a mix of catfish and bass on the stringer, they seemed to prefer chomping on the catfish. (I assume because it is easier to get a bit of meat off of a non-scaled fish?)

Most of the time, the fish with only one bite taken were still alive the next day. However, we NEVER caught a fish that exhibited a turtle bite.

The experts on the forum say that turtles will not attack healthy gamefish, and that certainly aligns with my non-expert observations. However, I have seen turtles working on severely disabled or dead fish.

I think I would be OK with a few turtles in most situations, especially if they would clean up the dead and dying fish. If that helps the pond escape the notice of cormorants looking for an easy meal, then the turtles might be a large net benefit.

Not only turtles will eat a fish on a stringer. When I was a kid, Dad and I were in a boat on Pike Lake in Northern Wisconsin catching crappie. I can remember the stringer giving the a jerk, the boat actually rocking a bit and dad pulling up the stringer with at least one less fish on it. My Uncle Charlie was in the boat too (he owned the lodge that we stayed at) and he said it was either a really big Pike or Muskie that did that.

My daughters father in law was surf fishing in Galvaston, he had fish on a stringer tied to his belt loop. Shark came up and bit one off. All on video. It wasnt a big shark but that would make you think twice about carying fish around your hip while in the ocean

I used fish a nearby irrigation reservoir in Colorado. There were lots of 8"-10" Crappie and I liked to wear my chest waders and fish for them in a favored spot prespawn. While fishing, I would feel a bump every now and then. Really spooked me the first couple of times but later noticed a dandy 4-5 lb LMB trying to take a crappie off my stringer. This continued until the bite slowed and I went home.

Have had trouble keeping crappie in my pond due to large LMB eating them. Have had LMB take many crappie that were hooked. You wouldn’t think that bass can empty a pond of crappie but they sure did mine……

Fed the CC today its been a week of mid to upper 70 degree weather. Catfish are out and looking good!

As much as i hate to harm turtles, they need to be thinned out or eliminated.

Turtles are a beneficial critter in ponds… eat dead fish and lots of plants, I welcome all turtles to my pond

How many turtles are too many?

I used to fish a small stream pool for bait fish, mostly green sunfish and chubs. Would not catch a fish untill I would catch the 4 or 5 turtles that were in the hole. Come back a week later and I could catch fish. Don't know if the fish were ate or just left the hole they were in, but with the turtles there were no fish.