Here's the deal...no pond in Texas can support more than 600-700 pounds of food fish per acre for very long...if you have that many fish at the same time. Water would need to be exchanged, aerated, and amended. That means a way to remove water, add fresh well water, aeration 24/7. But what you can do is what I call "crop" your fish as they get to your target weight. Basically, harvest fish as they grow and don't allow such a small pond to try to sustain a high standing crop. It's deceptive to think any pond in the south can carry a heavy load of fish at one time.

I've grown lots of fish...for many years. The best successes I've had growing fish for food is to push a pond of a given size, in this case, 2100 square feet (.0482 acre). A pond that size would be hard pressed to sustain a full carrying capacity of much more than 50 pounds of fish at any given time without constant attention to water quality. But, it could probably produce a total of 100 pounds, stretched out over a full season, if you keep the carrying capacity below that 50 pound target, and you have the ability to exchange water. Feeding is a must. Feeding grows fish and influences water quality, hence the need to crop the fish as they grow and exchange water as needed.

When we pushed our 1/10 acre ponds, we could grow upwards of 100-150 pounds of fish...as long as I opened the drain, dropped off a foot of water, then immediately fill with fresh well water...and we harvested fish with a seine at least four times per year. If we didn't do that, we had issues.

In today's world, there's another growing issue, particularly in Texas, where I pay most attention. When I try to push a tiny pond like that, inevitably, not only do I have to pay attention to water quality, fish health and growth, but also to predators. In such a confined space, Cormorants and River Otters can have their way and completely clean out the fish population.

That's especially true if you overwinter some of your catfish and also plan to double-crop with rainbow trout. For a pond as small as 2100 square feet, you could probably harvest 40-50 pounds of catfish as they reach a pound and a half...over the entire growing season. Leave the water shallow enough to be able to pull a seine through it to harvest fish. Don't count on them biting a hook. At least half your catfish won't ever bite a hook. Been there, done that, seen it over and over. You might be able to trap some in a cylinder-trap, but that's another conversation.

Not saying, "don't do it", just telling you to go in with eyes open. Plan to deal with water quality, regular harvest, and keeping predators at bay.