Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Newbie

Hey everyone my name is Chase im from Grafton, WV and my family and I own a camping and fishing buisness called Family Fishing and Camping check out our website for photos (www.familyfishingncamping.com). We have 6 ponds 3 of them are about 2 acres and 1 is about 1 acre the other two are smaller bait ponds. We have tons of bluegill and large and small mouth bass, some crappie, grass carp, big flathead, blue, and channel catfish. We have been open for almost 12 years and pride on being a fun place to bring your kids. We have stocked 60lb plus catfish in all 4 of our ponds but the biggest weve had caught is a 57.60lb. Flathead. Our goals are to have a place where you can come and enjoy peace and quite with your family and we pride ourselfs on being safe for your children. If you have any questions feel free to ask thanks.

chase, any luck on finding the big cats?

I wonder where the large pay lakes in Southern California get their huge catfish? They have had Blues well over 50#.

JHAP - any suggestions?

No luck yet im gonna make a couple phone calls tommorow to see what i can find ill keep you posted on what I find. We have 60 plus pounders in 4 of our ponds im hoping we can find more. Thanks for your help.

Chase -- I know it takes a while to grow cats, but . . .

Do you have a feeding program? I find that my catfish grow faster than I really like. I feed twice a day for all but December through March. In the cool months it is for the trout. But by this time of year, the bluegill and catfish are feeding heavily. The channel cats grow faster than I really like. A 10-12 inch catfish stocked in my pond in June will be 18-20 inches by the end of September.

Do you have a pond you could use as a grow-out pond? It might take several years to get there, but I think you could maintain a pretty stable supply of cats over 20 lbs., with feeding and aeration.

I try real hard not to let mine get to this size:


In the mean time, I like Todd's idea of getting together with Travis (CJBS). You might also check with some of the outfitters on the James River, down in the Richmond area. Every year they pull out large numbers of real monsters.

Ken

We dont get a chance to really feed because we have a steady flow of fisherman in and out and they pretty much feed them for us lol. Weve been talking about digging out our smaller bait pond to try and raise some cats but we are also trying to raise bait fish to sell so we dont have to buy them because we like to keep our blue gill for children to catch so we will have to move them to our other pond. Im willing to try anything to get some big cats we usually pay $1.75 a pound for under 15# and $2.25 for over 15#.