Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations catfish at the surface

I finally was able to get a photo of the catfish at the surface. This is what put me in a panic a while back. I noticed that they will actually line up in rows, each row covering a different direction. There must be at least 70 of them. I don't think that many will work in our little pond.

On a side note, notice the water quality has improved. It is still tea colored but much cleaner. Thanks again Ted...

Lookin' good, Teresa! Need to dig some worms and go fishin'.

Need some help with removal??

Neat-lookin' pond

I don't think they would be much fun to catch. Only about 3 to 4 inches long now. Tons of them. It still bothers me to see them up top.

Interesting. Neat pictures. I don't think I've ever seen that many catfish on surface anywhere growing up. How deep is the water where you're seeing them? Our pond is new and I'm trying to locate where the catfish are, trying to catch a few to see how big they've gotten since last year. Maybe my thinking they're in the deep area hiding by the rocks is wrong, maybe I need to be looking in the shallows......dot

They are in about 3 feet of water in this picture. I have seen them do it out over 6 feet of water as well. We are still not sure why. When they do this they will not eat.

I posted a picture of one we caught, they are mud cats. Others have seen mud cats display this habit in lakes and waterways. I doubt you have mud cats.....I don't think they are the preferred catfish.

You are correct. I have channel cat so I'm not sure where to look for them. Going to try this weekend again to catch a couple of others. Yours would be more interesting to watch though, I've not seen that display.

MarkECIN

It is fun to see once you get over worrying they are groping for air. Now today I saw two bluegill at the surface. We have had a lot of rain here, the pond if full to the brim and draining. But, while these two bluegill were at the top, some other frisky type fish was splashing its tail. So I don't think it was about air.

You must not feed pellets? That is when it is fun to watch all the fish come around. We have one fish we are yet to identify or catch.

I just uploaded a video of a Catfish feeding on YouTube. If you have a spare three minutes, you will see the Scary Scene featuring Two nice sized Tilapia!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMT-fv-3PfE

I do feed pellets (automatic feeder and do by hand as when I walk on the dock they come a runnin' ... So far I've only put bluegill, bass, catfish and of course the forage fish. Not sure yet if i want to mix other stuff, I heard the crappie have teeth and will tear up my other fish, don't know much about the tilapia yet (may change my mind when I see the video that is downloading). Waiting for the video to download, Agent....my computer is not so fast. Still waiting...hope one day I don't have this dial-up...so slow...

I made the video for my wife, who is traveling this week. She missed ALL the pets.

Won't she be surprised, when she come home, to find out her 5 acre pond is now a six acre pond.

(I think it's raining again!)

Awesome. Finally got it downloaded, my hubby and I watched it. Just maybe I have had cats come to the surface, seen the white just thought they were bass. I only put 50 catfish in the one acre. Yes, your wife should be surprised, they were definitely 'chowing down'. I need to make me a circle thing or hoola-hoop to feed in for better watching. Thanks for sharing. D

Neat video.

The other day I went out there, and it's one Big Kum Ba Ya in the Feeding Ring.

The cats are eating, the Sunfish are eating, the Tilapia are eating pellets, and even a few Bass are eating pellets!

I'm thinking I need to shut the feeder off for a few days and let them see who their friends are.