Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking catfish stocking help

Hey my family and I own pay lakes in WV and we jus lost the people that we got our large catfish from we have a hauler that we built and are really needing to find someone that can get us large catfish for a good price... Does anyone know where we can get some any help would be great. Thanks

Most of the large fish in my area come from Arkansas.

Try Zett's Fish Hatchery in INwood, WV-close to Martinsburg if you are close enough.

Chase -- Welcome to Pond Boss. If you have a commercial operation, do we know each other through the WVAA?? I'm in Hampshire County.

Anyway, I'd start with Zetts. I talked to Kathleen about a week ago, and she said they'd have 10-inch, and larger channel cats, after June 1. I've bought from them a number of times. They aren't perfect, but they do a pretty darn good job, and their prices for large cats (10-14 inch) have been pretty reasonable.

We've got a West Virginia Aquaculture member who may be able to help. He is this year's WVAA president, and his name is Mike Nardella. This is his website: Rainbow Head Farms. You can also check our live fish producer list at this website: WV Live Fish Producer List

Good luck,
Ken

Thanks for the help and i belive we are members we all went to the aquacultral forum down in lewisburg this year and it was alot of help... We are lookin for catfish in the 15-70 lb. Range... We have a trailer that we can pick them up, we use to go to KY a 9 hr drive to get them so traveling is not a problem.

Those size catfish are a little larger than I had in mind. However, in the past, Zetts had a service to net and shock ponds to remove over-sized and problem catfish out of ponds. I don't know if they still do that, but if they do, the fish would be for sale.

Yes, I was in Lewisburg. I'm the old bald and bearded guy (one of several) who gave one of the water quality presentations -- and at the end of my talk we had a drawing for several door prizes provided by Pond Boss.

Ken

Yea i remember you we sat in the back it was me, my mom and my dad we came in alil late because we got left behind at the hatchery lol... We have a permit to transport them from out of state if we have to but I will try Zett's to see if they can help but if you know anyone else it would be a great help.

Maybe our good friend Rex Raines (Rainman) will chime in. He is out of St. Louis, MO, but has access to a lot of fisheries. He and his fish truck travel throughout the eastern 2/3s of the country bringing a wide variety of otherwise difficult-to-find fish to many of us crazies. Last fall, he provided Pond Boss members in Southern PA and West Virginia with really big trout, hybrid stripped bass, forage fish, and I don't know what all else. He provides good high quality fish -- just don't ask him to rid your ponds of muskrats.

Chase, where are you located?

Hey, Chase, welcome to Pond Boss from another West Virginian! Catmandoo/Ken has already given the suggestion I was going to provide regarding Rainbowhead Farms, so I'll just agree with his guidance and chime in to say hi!

Todd, Ken, Mark:

Do you have a list of pond management companies that have shock boats? Maybe put chase together with them if they have (or come across) large Catfish when they are shocking ponds? I know Greg tried doing that with LCS last year but the adults proved to be too fragile.

We are located in grafton, WV... Where we got our fish from before was a couple of people that went out on the rivers nd caught fish for there local market in KY and the larger fish they caught they would put them in a holding tank and call us and we would drive down and get them... I heard that catfish paradise stocked some larger fish but i havent heard where they came from.

Chase, Rainbowhead is right here around Clarksburg where I'm located, so it would be an easy pickup for you in Mike had anything in the size you're after. Otherwise, I have no idea where you'd find fish that size anywhere around us. Sounds like wherever you find them, it's going to be like your Kentucky run to get them back to the ponds.

Yea we are gonna call him on monday and see if he can help us or if he would know anyone that can. We dont mind driving it took us 9 hrs down and 9 hrs back to get them from the last place and we never lost a fish and the water temp. only would drop like a degree or two in the 9 hrs. If u have any other suggestions im open to any.

The only other thought I have is to follow forum member CJBS2003 on one of his night catfishing trips to the Potomac near DC where he regularly bags some monsters!

I doubt you'd want any of them in your pond though... They've got more mercury than a thermometer and PCB's than a Dupont plant.

And that's a lot of bad content!

Yea thats wat we are affraid of and why we havent tried getting a out of state commercial permit and caught them ourselves. We dont have a commercial permit in WV do we?

Not quite sure what you're asking, but if you mean a permit to catch fish and then release them into your own pond, I don't know the answer right offhand. Catmandoo may know given his active involvement with the state aquaculture association.

One thing to keep in mind is that in many if not most states, fish in public waterways are owned by the state. Taking them for your own use may create potential legal issues that you'd rather not deal with.

Yeah i know i know that in VA and KY you can get a commercial finshing license which means you are intending to keep and sell them. KY you have to keep documentation on how many and where and all kinds of stuff and turn it in to the state once a month in order to keep your permit. I just don't know how WV works I know you can keep so many and stock them in a private pond but we are a commercial so I dont know if that makes a diffence or not?

I don't know that answer either, Chase, but would strongly suspect keeping them to stock in a commercial pond would change the equation. Again, it comes back to state ownership of the fish and now you're catching someone else's property and selling it for your own profit. Just sounds like you could run into a problem, but I may also be totally off the mark here, particularly if you got a permit. Perhaps make a call to the DNR main office and just ask the question in a generalized way, not giving out any identifying information about yourself or your operation. Just keep it vague.

Yeah i probly will have to do that I just don't care for the DNR in general they dont like us because it takes away from there job because people dont have to have license to fish here but ohh well ill just have to bite the bullet and call them thanks

Let us know what you find out.