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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396 |
Did I read that chanel catfish have a shorter life expectancy? I have had a heavy loss in my large catfish and I was thinking of the life expectancy. My reason for stating this is if it is true a person might desire to not have channel catfish. I lost 39 that were very large.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,055 Likes: 277
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,055 Likes: 277 |
Deaner, I don't personally think any catfish has a short life expectancy. I have caught CC up to 25 pounds. They certainly didn't die young. Of course, a 25 lb CC is a rarity to catch. How big were yours?
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396 |
They were in the neighborhood of 10 #. I had read recently that channel catfish had a shoprter life , but I must be wrong . I have lost 39 or 40 large ones and I am unable to find a good reason for them dieing.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,499 Likes: 267 |
Deaner did the CC look healthy ?
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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I think the vast majority of CC die within 8 years. However, there are genetic mutants who live 20 plus and they are the ones who attain the massive sizes of 30 plus pounds....
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396 |
The cat fish that died looked good and with no markings on the ones I could look at closely. AS I stated I have lost about 40 and they are the biggest ones. In looking at the catfish as they feed these are smaller that are visible at the present.
paul weatherholt
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396 |
I lost my last posting so if it shows up please delete. The catfish I lost had no marks on the ones I could check closely. In checking the fish eating they are smaller cats. Now yesterday I removed a large cat and one large bream that were dead. In all the fish I have lost there has been one or two bream and one nice sized bass. I have lots of bass unless something has gotten in the pond and eaten them.
paul weatherholt
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 396 |
During the time of my fish loss I continued to feed lightly and otherwise there was not any change such as rains. Nothing I could contribute this loss. This did not effect the bass, only loss, one bass as I recall.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150
Lunker
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OP
Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150 |
Just a little update. There are still a ton of fish in the pond, but they are on the small side. A couple weeks after the fish kill the BG got back to spawning. The reason why I am posting is my son was casting a mini jig today and caught a very niced sized BG. I was worried I lost all the larger fish but this showed some survived. Also we replanted some CC yesterday, I just have to have some catfish in my pond.
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150
Lunker
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OP
Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150 |
A small update.
The pond is doing good, just not many large fish. BG continue to spawn in the shallows and there arefry everywhere. The BG that spawn last year continue to grow and feed heavily at the feeder.
Do to me being very lazy I still haven't tested the water. My hunch was that the water flowing down the orchard rows was the problem so now I only fill through the pipe. I just got done bringing the pond up a couple feet. This time I didn't do it all at once but over three days. All appears well.
FA is going to be an issue until I can afford an aeration system.
My other issue I may have to deal with is the balance between LMB and BG. There is a huge population of BG in the pond and many of them are too big for the surviving 6-8" LMB to eat. Over the next couple years I hope the LMB are able to grow and keep the BG in check. If not the pond is small enough that I should be able to get it in check.
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,615 Likes: 5
Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Sounds like time to cull some BG Mt. Oh and not to bring up a sore subject but are you effected by the water rationing at all?
JHAP ~~~~~~~~~~ "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." ...Hedley Lamarr (that's Hedley not Hedy)
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,261
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,261 |
nice update mt, sounds like a BG cook-off is in order. is the pipe water from a well? and do you aerate it before it hits the pond? if not, its probably a good idea to do that.......have it splash into some rocks or something.
GSF are people too!
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150
Lunker
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OP
Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 150 |
Jeff, It is well water and as far as I know they don't ration that around here. We also still have water rights to the canal that borders our property. The farmers/communities about 45 minutes west of use are having a tough time. There are a lot of farms/jobs that have dried up because of politics over what little water they have.
Died, Some air gets into the well water when it shoots out of the pump and into the standpipe but I am sure it could use some more. This winter I am going to replace the valve that leads to the pond with a larger one. That would be a good time to add a rip rap water fall of some sort.
Talk to you later guys.
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