Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations 20 pound blue cat lower fish population??

I may be way off base, but I have a very noticable decrease in LMB and BG population in my formerly overpopulated 6 acre pond. My broth er in law caught a super fat 20+ pound blue cat a month or so ago and threw him back in. Could blues decimate the population of fish in my pond?? I'm seeing very few bass and bluegills from the banks in the last 60 days. Could this be possible? Thanks in advance for your input!
Mark

PS: I have LMB BG Black Crappie
CC and at least one blue cat. This fish had to be introduced by someone locally as it's the only one ever caught in the 5 years I have owned the pond. BTW There has been no sign of a fish kill all year.

I believe the blue cat would be doing a number on your fish populations.

Hi Bassman good to see you around again!

I have a few observations that might be helpful:

1. Probably should have kept the BC - once a fish that size gets hooked, it's hard to get another chance - they become pretty wary. I'd keep any BC that size moving forward.

2. Lusk PB story focuses on bass club lake where catches diminished significantly, so they called and ordered electrofishing survey to be performed. He didn't sample many bass, but found many large BC - one with a 3# LMB sticking out of it's mouth IIRC. The piece demonstrated BC are ultimate apex predators, forage preference limited only by their gape, and can decimate a fishery. I don't recall how many BC he shocked, but believe they were all removed, and he launched a supplemental stocking program of BG and LMB to restore the quality of the fishery - which I'm sure he did.

3. George employs a single BC to assist his CNBG management in his HSB pond and it helps him achieve his goals - CNBG are healthy and overpopulation isn't an issue. Once the BC hits 10# and starts targeting preferred fish [8"+ CNBG] I believe he removes and stocks another young fish and starts over.

Depending on how many BC exist in your fishery - yes, they could be the or a part of the reason[s] your fishery is suffering. Your remaining LMB and BG should be fairly healthy and large due to lack of competition for forage, I'd assume - so depending on your goals the BC might or might not be appropriate element of your management strategy.

If your goal is to restore higher catch rates of BG and LMB I would remove as many BC as you can through trot line or jug sets. Live or cut BG should take some fish, and if your BC hit pellets, you can catch them on pellet imitations and stout tackle, too.

If you only have 1 BC present, I doubt it could account solely for the vast reduction in fish you're catching/seeing. My fish all move deep once October hits...could that be part of they reason you're not seeing many BG and LMB?

and what if he is not the only blue in there!!

You could try jugging for the cats and see what you get?

BC feed into the cool months, so you still have a shot at getting some out. If you set trotlines or jugs, let us know how you do.

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the info boys. I have no idea how many BC are in there. I'll be setting a load of jugs w/cut bluegills. Hopefully I can rid the pond of the monster predators!
I'll report back in a week or so with results. Crossing my fingers for now!

Use circle hooks. That way if any LMB take the cut bait they won't be gut hooked and can be released easily.

Way ahead of you there esshup!! Biggest circle hooks I could find were 5/0. Gonna set jugs tomorrow. I REALLY want to catch that big blue cat!!

I have a few larger models rigged and ready if you need them. I guaranty they will not break you off!

Rob C

Great assortment of brew behind those hooks...

some of the post on here of people with similar problems say that educated big cats prefer live bait. but you still stand a shot.

I'd try to get away with the smaller hooks possible...5/0 only necessary if fishing with a big BG

I am not a pro but what kind of a difference can only 1 fish do in a 6 acre pond? And cats are not even very good hunters. They are carrion-eaters. They don't rely just on other fishes.

Fatih, one might not do much population reduction in a 6 ac pond, but if you see one, there could be many more swimming around. You rarely see all the fish in a pond, especially a larger pond.

Different species of catfish have different feeding habits. I don't know of any catfish here that when over 5 pounds feeds only on dead things. They feed on live fish.

Think about it for a minute. For a fish to get large, it needs to eat a lot of food. Bill Cody in another thread said that one Walleye will eat 1,000 minnows a year. There are a LOT more live fish swimming around in any pond than there are dead fish, so it just stands to reason that a fish will target the most available food source - which is live fish. I'm not saying that catfish won't eat a dead fish, but the larger ones will eat more live fish than dead ones.

Same goes for Largemouth Bass. I've caught a number of LMB while fishing with dead and cut up fish. But LMB aren't thought of as eating dead fish. Northern Pike too. A good technique to fish for them is to fish with a dead fish on the bottom in shallow mucky bays in the spring just after ice out. They cruise along eating the winterkilled fish. Again, that's an example of fish targeting a readily available and easy food source.

Har Fishtruck!! Guess everything's bigger in Texas!! Do ya have to tie them off to a pretty big tree as to not let them get away?

Just thinking out loud... Is it too late in the year to shock the pond teehjaeh57? It seems like that might be an easier route than jugging? My son in law's pretty handy and could probably rig up a shock setup. No luck with jugs yet. Caught half a dozen 6-8 pound CC and and a couple of 3# LMB, but no BC. Jugging a pond this size seems like taking a leak on the Great Chicago Fire!

I am posting some past info on Flathead cats below.

It is equally applicable to Blue Cats.

I have reported several flathead growout involuntary projects before. FlH do have a place in pond mgt just as do most every species. You have to understand the species and be comfortable with the risk and range of possible outcomes. IMO the situation for FlH is limited to the apex predator in a pond with that as its only goal. I have seen 5 acre BG ponds wiped out by less than 12 FH over time. The FlH went in as 1 lb fish +- and grew to a range between 12 and 50 lbs. It may take a while but their food consumption grows exponentially. They target food by preferred size (like many predatory fish). They are not gape limited by pond fish so they often target the biggest BG at night. They can wreck a population of spawning BG males quickly. When they do the yoy are history.

It can be done if that is the goal. It's your pond so go for it and please post the continuing results.

See this thread for the science.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=123793&fpart=1

OMG!! I've gotta get rid of these dudes. My fish population has gone from LMB overpopulated to virtually barren since spring. I'm in central Indiana and it's supposed to be in the low 30's for the next 4 nights. Should I electrofish the pond now or wait till spring. Just need input on when would be the best time to do it. Thanks for all your input guys...this just makes me sick!!

I would do some fishing with cut bait and see what you catch. I would wait to spring for the shock boat. Gather your info now so the operator and you will know what to look for and to better assess the situation.

Still jugging the pond. Caught a total of 9 CC, 5 LMB. (thanks for the tip on the circle hooks, all but one was lip hooked) and a grand total of ZERO BC. Frustrated, but I'm still gonna keep them baited. Hope to take out at least one BC. Thanks for your comments guys. Ewest, I will take your advice and wait till spring and look up an electrofishing operator. Any recommendations of who I may get and a ballpark price??? I'm in NW Randolph County Indiana roughly 25 miles north of I70.

Are you using cut bait or live? Try some big live baits - like a 6-8" BG or BCP...your BC likely are cruising for large, easy meals to put on Autumn weight with water temps dropping and Winter approaching. A struggling panfish just beneath the surface just might be the ticket.

For BC I agree with TJ ! Live but injured is best.

Curiosity question: will a electroshock boat be able to bring up a 20# BC? Does it have to use more "juice" to accomplish this, and does that hurt the smaller fish?

I'll try live injured bait. At this time I'm open to all suggestions. Still caught no BC.

Yes it will work on a 20 lb fish just like a 1 inch fish. The question may be is the fish to deep. That can be a limiting factor.