Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Catfish

I bought a place about three years ago that has a 1/2 acre pond that's about 15' at the dam. The previous owner said they never did much with it but she thought there were some monster Channel Cats in there. We have only caught catfish and most are between 8-20". We started feeding them last year and man do they eat. I don't know how to estimate how many come to dinner, but they eat a two gallon bucket of floating food in under 5 minutes. I would love to introduce LMB (my favorite to catch) and maybe other species into the pond. Is this even possible?
How do I know when to thin the population of CC?
Who eats who and how do I get LMB to thrive with the CC?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Ottis

Ottis -- first, welcome to Pond Boss.

I went through something similar when we bought our current home about 8-9 years ago. My main pond is not much larger than yours -- 0.7 acres at most. Our pond also had some bluegill, bass -- and unfortunately some crappie. The whole pond was a mess due to excessive runoff from a nearby cattle pasture and huge ravines that were filling the pond with silt and mud.

It is how I found Pond Boss, and I've been here ever since.

I did eventually get the big channel cats removed, but it took several years of fishing and luck. The best thing was a "turn-over" after a big storm, where the bottom water, without oxygen, got mixed into the entire pond after a big storm. As far as I know, all of the big catfish died from the turnover.

I started all over. Since then, I added another pond that is maybe about 1/4 quarter acre. The main pond will get no more additions of channel catfish. It is becoming my trophy blugegill pond. It will have a limited number of bluegill, and large numbers of starving largemouth bass.

The newer pond is strictly a channel catfish and hybrid bluegill pond, although it will probably have winter trout and hybrid striped bass in small quantities.

If you must, think about getting rid of everything alive in your pond and starting over. It doesn't take long to grow fish in a rehabilitated pond.

There are multiple ways of killing off everything in your pond.

You can hire someone to do it. Generally, they will use rotenone. It is a compound very similar to nicotine, and found in a number of plants. Rotenone is now regulated, so you may not be able to do it yourself without an applicator's permit.

Alternatively, you can pump your pond down with something like a semi-trash or trash pump. A 2-inch semi-trash pump can be purchased for about $300 with hoses. You can also rent a much larger "trash pump" for a day or two. When you get the water down significantly, there are several legal and very safe methods of eliminating whatever you don't wish to save. Hydrated lime, ammonia, or chlorine bleach are very effective, and are readily available.

Keep providing info and asking questions. We can get help make your pond a safe and fun place to visit.

Ken

Thanks Ken. I think I will start with more extreme fishing techniques and see if we can have some fun with the big ones...if there are any. I kinda like the idea of starting over, but maybe not any time soon. I really would like to grow some LMB..their my favorite to catch.

Thanks for the advice and information.

Ottis

There are lots of threads here on the site about the best ways to catch large hook-shy channel cats.

My most successful method is with 3-4 inch creek chubs on a #4 circle hook -- nothing else. No weights, no bobbers, etc. I cast the minnow out at dark, put the pole into a secure pole holder, and return the next morning with a big landing net in hand.

The second best method for me is to find outdated shrimp at the supermarket. I cut up about a 1/4 to 1/2 pound of them into small pieces. I throw them into the area I plan to place a bait. I bait a #4 circle hook with a shrimp, and put it in the middle of the area where I threw all the shrimp pieces. The pole goes in a holder until at least 30 seconds after line starts stripping from the reel.

Trot lines work good too especially if you find an outdated shrimp market.

Thanks for all the advice guys. So, what I'm getting from reading is that if I want to grow some LMB, I need to get the BIG CC out? I'm sure I need to thin the population anyway.......I'll try and post a video of feeding time so maybe someone can help me estimate how many are coming to dinner.

Ottis if the fish will feed you can super Glue fish food to a long shank hook.

Probably. There is nothing wrong with having CC and LMB in the same pond. However, they both compete for the same forage, which is usually bluegill.

As CC get into the 15 to 20 inch category, they start to become heavy predators.

I have nothing to back this up except years of experience. But, I'd say that a 3-5 year old channel cat will probably out-eat a 3-5 year old LMB. At a minimum, these age CCs can probably consume larger bluegill than similar age LMB due to mouth size and shape.

I'd suggest getting out all CC, or as many as you can. Then starting over with LMB and small CC (4-inch). You may also need to replenish your bluegill population. Then, try real hard not to let the CC get over about 24 inches long.

So, I had some friends come over this weekend and do some night fishing. These fish are smart. We had some luck with just red worms with bobbers, but not much doing with any other kind of bait. We only extracted about 8 CC ranging from 11" - 20". We enjoy fishing them out, but I hope they can't grow faster than I can catch them. We haven't fed in about a week, will this help?
I'm not ready to pump the pond down just yet, but that may be my best option.
Thanks for all the great advice.

Try a free swimming 4 inch bluegill.

I'm with Dave...I do the best using 'native' bait...if they primarily feed on BG then catch some and use them for bait.

Dave and DL,
Any time of day or at night?

Yeah, anytime is OK. They can get acclimated to fishing pressure so you almost need to sneak up on the pond and fish quietly. Mine will go nowhere a red and white bobber.