Hi to all. I was told about this site the other day. Glad to come on board, have a few questions here and there and will try to join in often. Site looks good and with plenty of members!
First question. For Channel Catfish, I have been reading on here about their breeding. Some of you guys say that you have to give them something to breed in.. A bucket or hole in the side of the banks.. Is that correct in what I am reading.. Can some one elaborate in detail for me..I have a new pond and just put 200 baby cats in it.. I would love to get them set up to reproduce in the coming years.. Can some one help me out on this..
Putt
Most on here recommend just doing a put and take for channels and not allowing them to breed others let them breed. Personally I have several pieces of 1 by 2 foot duct work about 6 ft long in mine that I removed during some remodeling. I also have 3 sunken hollow logs courtesy of our lovely carpenter ants that are about 2' in diameter and 8 ft long. I have had some spawning activity as we caught a few 8 inch catfish last year and the others in the pond were stocked 4 years ago and are from 4-10 pounds.
Bob
That's right, you can use buckets, barrels, anything hollow. Depending on the predators and habitat (hiding places), most of them may not make it. That is why it is recomended to keep track of how many you take out. When you get about 50%, stock some more.
Catfish are cavity spawners and need some sort of cover to spawn in. Wheather it be holes carved out in the banks of the lake or cavities or what ever. Just something they can get into to spawn...Some people use a bunch of old tires...
Puttputt,
I got this ideal from another site dedicated to catfishing....
I got four 18 gal cheap ($4) plastic totes from Lowes, added 2 to 4 inches of sand and gravel. I then drilled 6 holes around the rim to tie on the tops with plastic wire ties.
I then cut a 10 by 10 in. hole in the top of two and a 10 by 10 in. hole in one end of two others as I did not know which was best (still don't).
I then drilled 2 holes for a rope to tie them to a fallen tree or old duck decoys.
I plan to pull them out to replace the sand and gravel each year.
The way I see it is baby cats can be part of the food chain and I plan to be at the top.
Good luck,
Here's a good thread:
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000073 Bob Lusk describes how to make their "nests" out of 2 5gal buckets.
Thanks guys I appreciate the help and info!
Putt
Another good way to do this is to buy a stick of 12 inch (diameter) PVC pipe. Cut it into 3 foot lenghts. Stand the pipes up in the yard and put about 4 inches of concrete in the bottom of each, closing one end. Then take the pieces, and stack them in a pyramid shape with the closed ends facing alternating directions. Bolt, wire, tie, screw, them together in the pyramid shape and toss it into your pond. If you tied together 5 pipes, you just made 5 nests.