Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Channels and Blues

Hello,
Is a 20 acre lake that is 12 feet at it's deepest suitable for Blue Cats? From what I've read, they wouldn't reproduce? Are Channel Cats the best bet?

TIA...
--Kevin

That lake is perfect for blues and CC both. You can have your cake and eat it too with that much water. Is it constant level? How old is it? Have you done any tests to see what kinds of fish are already there? DO you need a partner to help you take care of it? Just kidding, you are too far away for me to drive or I would be there tommorow!!

20 acres is plenty big enough for blue cat. Keep in mind, though, they can quickly become the dominant predator if stocked more than about 20 per acre. They grow extremely large and are top line predators. I once electrofished a 52 pound blue cat which had eaten a three pound bass. So, be prepared for their large sizes. They can reproduce, once they are 4 years old, have a place to hide, and a place for baby blues to feed. Channel cats are fast growing, will reach sizes 10-12 pounds in a lake, can reproduce if conditions are 'right.' So, two fish with two different lifestyles and consequences. You get to pick.

I have had Blues in what may 10 acre lake, (which is only about 5 acres do to lake of water), for about a year now. This past summer they REALLY ate the pellet feed really well. They seemed to feed more in the deeper water while the CC's fed closer to the bank. Along with the bream.

Personaly, I think Blue cat is by far the best fresh water fish you can have...

Give us more details on the lake, what eles do you have stocked in there?

I would trade 20 3# bass for a 52# bluecat any day! Different fish for different folks!

Kevin, they will reproduce but most cats do a lousy job fending off predation.

I More than agree with you on this.
In fact I would take 25# bluecat over 20 3# bass

Man we need our on littel forum ....maybe our on t shirts as well

T-shirt design:

BASS GUZZLER:

BASS GUZZLER!!!!
WOOOOOO HOOOO Now THAT is an Asome name!!!

Man you are on the Ball!!!


Man that is just SLICK!!!! Can't wait to see the looks on all the rest of the bass lovers on this FORUM!

big_pond,

While that is a crazy picture, I am waiting to hear that you've finally been back to your pond to see what's going on there!

I think you said you haven't been to your pond for six months. Aren't you curious as to what's happening there?

Man the water is still lacking 6 feet from the top. I have right now about a 4 to 5 acre lake with about 24 feet of water in the deepest spot. I have another near by creek on my tract of land where I am tring to figure out a way to run that creek in to this lake. Where it stands now, I would need to back up water about 15 to 17 feet deep to be high enough for the water to run in this large lake and fill it up. This is going to require me to do another timber cut, design yet another pond and higher out some one to build it. I am thinking this "catch pond" would be 1 to 2 acres in size. I would only put in bream or bass from the state or Greg Grimes. No management effort over there on the littel pond.

If I can get this done succesfully THEN I will start looking at Crappie for this lake. When the big lake is full It should be around 30 feet deep and almot 10 acres in size.

Sorry, it took me a while to get back into the forum, but thanks for all the information, advice, and the picture of that humongous Bass eater.
The lake is pretty much at a constant level, with a creek feeding into it. I'm lucky in that the lot I fish from is in the section, near the damn, where I can reach both shallow and the deeper water.
The creek isn't fast flowing, but there is definitely a water turn-over rate to take note of if I can talk the other residents into liming and fertilizing this East Texas lake.

The lake is about 30 years old. I've been fishing it since last september, as often as possible and still keep my job and fiancee. The largest Bass I've caught was about 1.5 pounds and real skinny. Lots of little Bass and Bluegills, but also Crappie. Only caught one Redear Sunfish, but I will add more. Unfortunately, I have also caught huge red-ear turtles, BullHeads, Goggle-eyes, and Long-ear Sunfish. I hooked something that snapped a 20 pound test line, like it was nothing, when I tried to stop it from going under a fallen tree. From rumors I hear, I suspect it was a big Flathead.

I just added 78 Xmas trees, upright of course, around a fallen tree, under, and around one side of the pier I fish. I'm already enjoying seeing little fish come out of the sunken trees to feed on bread. Caught 3 small Bass from the pier a wekk after the trees were sunk. Had caught none off the pier in the previous 5 months.

From what I am reading it sounds like y'all are recommending the CCs, but the lake isn't deep enough for the Blues? I'll just keep count of the CCs I remove and add more when I get down to about half of what I put in.

Luckily, I found Todd Overton's web site. He's not a fountain of good information. He's a huge river of it and has pointed me to many very good information resources. I'm sure glad he's honest and gives it to me straight, when I try to do something amateurish like adding fingerling CCs that would mostly just get eaten, by an existing population of predator fish.

As a matter of fact, Todd pointed me to this forum. I think he had more important things to do, than answer my million questions. I look forward to reading, asking questions, and learning from you all.

--Kevin

My 2 cents which is worth about 1/4 cent. I am fairly new to pond keeping although I have kept everything from goldfish to a huge live ocean reef in aquariums.I have even propagated coral in aquariums which demands the highest water quality of any aquatic endeavor. Bluecat's don't care that 12 feet is as deep as the 20 acres are and I think Robinson was kidding when he added a foot to the depth and a acre to the size. Your lake is bigger than most and I only dream of having that much water! (dream, dream dreaming of huge fish) You can have Blue cats if you want them!!! I would try to get a good idea what fish are already in the pond. Take steps to reduce or eradicate the trash fish. Then stock with good balanced stocking plan which would include whatever type of fish I enjoyed catching and eating!

PondsForFun brings up a really good point that gets hit on every once in a while on this forum. It really does come down to what you truly want. If you want to try something a little different or funky, and you spend some time educating yourself as to your options, making sure not to break any regulations along the way, then by all means try something new! We all want to hear how it works out.

Man!!! put some Bass guzzlers in there!! It would be good for you. especially if you have too many bass.

He added one foot and one acre to the sizes I gave, so I figured he was joking.

Thanks to all. As you can see from my last post, I am currently trying to build up the forage base, through feeding and providing shelter and, yes, I am trying to catch as many trash fish out of there as possible, before I add any CCs or Blues. I added about 2K small Redears, last October, along with some baby Bullfrogs (like to listen to them). Next, will be some 1 to 2 pound Pure Florida Bass (should help to also reduce the numbers of little Native Bass) and Tilapia around April.

The funky part would be an idea I am mulling over to buy about 40 pounds of live Crawfish next season and see if I can get a population started in a sandy, East Texas lake. They'd be additional forage if they survive and reproduce.

If all goes well, I'll add the CCs and Blues next Fall.

Thanks again...

"if I can talk the other residents into liming and fertilizing this East Texas lake."

"you truly want"

I may have missed something as I'm not totally clear. Is this a community lake? If it is, management may be tougher. Some other person may be trying to manage it for bass and tossing all those cats up on the bank while you are trying to manage for cats and tossing the bass up on the bank. If it is a community project and you haven't already, you might want to community meeting to discuss plans / desires for the lake. If everyone is on the same page, it'll be easier to build support to cover costs and manage the fishery. If everyone isn't on the same page, you'll at least know it before investing much of your time and money.

No concerns there. The 4 families that live up there are not avid fishermen. Actually, I want to catch and eat all of the above. I've been working on them to get a survey of the lake done, but not much success, so far. My fishing has defintely indicated an over abundance of LMB, under a pound. I'll probably just end up doing what I can to improve the fishing, around my two piers and go out in the Jon boat for a change of scenery.