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Never seen a loon here.


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.

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I got into a discussion with a friend of mine last evening who does butchering. He mostly does deer and hogs. Does anyone think it wouldn't be a good idea to feed the cleanings (heart, liver and kidneys)to my blue catfish? I thought it may be a free source of food. Just looking for thoughts. I would have access to several hundred pounds of such to put into my 16 acre pond.


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IMO I would try fishing with some of each first to make sure the BC will eat it. I have had great luck fishing with chicken liver for CC over the years but I have tried beef liver, chicken gizzard and other innards with little to no success.


Last edited by Bill D.; 12/23/15 09:24 AM.

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Last fall I stocked some 8-12" blue cats thanks to TJ. Later this summer I plan to fyke net carp out of my lake and begin feeding them to my blue and channel cats. In the mean time I was wanting to get them on a feed program. My most reasonable options are Sportsman's Choice from Tractor Supply or Aquamax. The Sportsman's Choice variety is listed as 36% protein, but ingredients listed are......

**Grain products, Plant Protein Products, Processed Grain By-Products, Animal Protein Products, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin Kactivity), Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Lysine, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Fish Oil**

Is this going to be a viable feed for young blue cats? Or should I go ahead and order Aquamax and spend the extra dollars? Note: I'm guessing most of the fish taking the feed will be channel cats.

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Instead of feeding the Sportsman's Choice food, see if you can find some dedicated catfish food. That might be more cost effective for you.


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I had considered that, but with blue cats in the mix I thought maybe a higher protein diet may be required. I do have access to the Sportsmans's Choice Floating Catfish food at 2/3 the price. Maybe young blue cats and their carnivorous nature at that age would accept that food readily.


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You could cover all your bases and get one bag of each and see what they prefer to eat.....

All 3 would be what, around $100-$125 in feed total?


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FWIW I fed my CC Sportsman's Choice Multi-species formula last summer. They loved it and I was very happy with the nice fat 2 to 3 pound CC we harvested last fall. I will be feeding it again this year. It's a 36% and has multiple pellet sizes in each bag. IIRC it was about 12 or 13 dollars a 25 pound bag at Farm & Fleet.

Last edited by Bill D.; 03/09/16 12:22 PM.

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I guess my biggest concern is that the Sportsman's Choice formula is grain based (36% protein), whereas AM600 is fish meal based (41%). I wasn't sure if that made a difference with Blue Cats, particularly once they become larger and more piscivorous.


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NEDOC,

Here is a link to an article that discusses your question.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-7345.2008.00200.x/abstract

It's only the abstract but the last line should be of interest. 32% protein is good enough for Blues so your 36% should be fine.

Last edited by Bill D.; 03/09/16 03:01 PM.

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Excellent. Thanks Bill!


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Catfish food should be easy to find. Gamefish Chow 32% is another alternative.

Here is some more info on CC from SRAC. Blues have slightly higher protein requirements as per Bill's cite.

Commercial feeds for food fish
generally contain 28% or 32% protein.
A 26% protein feed is also
available from some feed mills.
Research has shown that protein
levels as low as 24% can support
maximum growth if fish are fed as
much as they will eat. Low-protein
feeds cost less, but usually
result in more body fat and lower
processed yield. Research has
shown that there is a marginal difference
in the processed yields of
fish fed a 28% or 32% protein feed
(about 0.3 to 0.4 percentage unit
reduction in fish fed the 28% protein
diet), but the difference may
be significant to catfish processors.
The type of feed to choose
depends on whether fish prices
are based on live weight or on
processed yield. Although fish fed
higher protein feeds (35% to 40%)
have better processed yield and
lower body fat content, these
feeds usually are not economical.

Last edited by ewest; 03/09/16 04:14 PM.















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Great info guys.


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Corey will be feeding his BC until they hit 5-10# when he'll likely stop to encourage carp predation, correct?


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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That's probably a decision yet to be determined as I evaluate my carp population via fyke net. I'm not really sure once they hit 10# if the amount of feed I can afford would impact their feeding on carp. I'm guessing the fish food would just be dessert:) It'll probably be a bridge I cross at that time.


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I just purchased a 27" x 39" mini fyke net from Christiansen's Nets. It is a smaller fyke net, with a 25' lead and I had them alter the normal 4" throat to a 6" throat. I wanted to get a feel for what it was like to operate a smaller net like this before I spend the money on a bigger one. Christiansen's customer service was absolutely great. They did seem apprehensive in believing the fyke net would catch many carp. But I'm sure I'll use the net for other endeavors as well, so I went ahead and purchased one anyway.

Here's a link to the net I purchased......

http://christiansennets.com/store/fishing-products/mini-fyke-net/

Here's a link to another study suggesting that fyke nets can be quite effective on capturing carp......

http://www.southwestnrm.org.au/sites/default/files/uploads/ihub/fishingforcarpcontrol.pdf


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Recently I ordered a 27" x 39" mini fyke net from Christiansen Nets with a 25' lead line. Customer service was great in working with me and getting the net they felt was appropriate for what I am attempting to do.

So this last Saturday, April 2nd I drug the fyke net into the water. I baited it with a ziploc bag filled with fish food and the bag punctured 5-6 times with the tip of a nail. On Sunday a friend of mine and I pulled the net in. To my surprise we had about 40 fish in about 22 hours of the net being set. I was kind of surprised by this due to the water being so cold and fish activity being minimal. Anyway, I plan to journal my findings in this post instead of making new posts every time I pull the net. So here is what we pulled out.........

April 3, 2016
Removed:
6 CC all under 10"
3 CGC averaging 1.5 lb each
Released
2 BG 5-6"
2 GSF 3-4"
14 Crappie 8-10"
12 Crappie 2-3"

April 5, 2016
Removed:
1 CC 8"
1 BB 8"
2 CGC 12-16"
Released:
14 Crappie 8-10"
2 GSF 3-5"

April 6, 2016
Removed:
2 CGC 12-16"
1 CC 8"
Released:
7 Crappie 8-10"
2 GSF 3-5"

April 9, 2016
Removed:
3 CGC 12-16"
2 CC 8"
Released:
11 Crappie 8-10"
1 GSF 5"

April 15, 2016
Removed:
7 CC 8-10"
1 crappie 8-10"
Released:
12 crappie 8-10"
1 GSF 4"

April 17, 2016
Removed:
1 8-10" crappie
1 8" CC
2 10" fat bullhead
Released:
4 8-10" crappie

April 21, 2016
Removed:
2 CGC 12-14"

April 24, 2016
Removed:
2 CGC 12-14"
Released:
2 Crappie 8-10"

April 25, 2016 (no fish caught on April 26)
Removed: 1 Bullhead 8"
Released: nothing

Last edited by NEDOC; 04/27/16 09:33 AM.

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It would be interesting to see how it performs without bait. I've never used bait in mine... I run the lead all the way to shore so they can't swim around the lead on the shore side.


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I plan to compare with different kinds of bait, without bait, times of year, placement, etc. After one placement I was surprised how easy this was to use and how effective it was. I think it will be a great pond management tool for me, but seems it would be even more effective in a smaller pond. Particularly in small ponds with bluegill overabundance. In fact, I wonder if it could be used to help control crappie in a pond of less than 2 acres. It seems you could pull several hundred out every year without much time or effort.

If nothing else, its free food for my larger catfish.

Last edited by NEDOC; 04/04/16 03:20 PM.
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The last part of April I didn't set the fyke net much as it was raining and I was fairly busy. A couple of notes, it does seem to help to move the net on occasion. After 2-3 settings in the same area I began struggling to catch fish. Secondly, there appears to be a significant increase in catch rate when the trap is baited. I tried throwing canned sweet corn around the net in hopes of attracting carp, but that didn't seem to make a significant difference. What has seemingly worked best for me is putting a handful of fish food in a zip loc bag that has nail holes punched in it to let some scent escape. All in all, I've enjoyed using the fyke net. I haven't caught as many fish as I had hoped for, but I think the work load of catching and cleaning more fish would be too much anyway. And possibly as the water warms and fish movement increases I will begin to capture more.

April total of fish removed: (36 unwanted fish culled and I have started culling a few crappie when I don't catch much of anything else just to feed my larger catfish)

CC - 18 (all under 10")
CGC - 14 (Average of 15")
BH - 4 (Average 10" and very healthy)
Crappie - 2 (9")
Total: 36 unwanted fish culled and I have started culling a few crappie when I don't catch much of anything else just to feed my larger catfish.


May 4, 2016
Removed:
CC - 3 (9")
CGC - 2 (14" and 18")
Released:
Crappie - 3

May 5, 2016
Removed:
Crappie - 3
Released:
GSF - 2 (5-6")

Took a break from trapping to set it in my small pond for small RES.

May 25, 2016 (baited with cans of corn punctured with metal punch)
Removed:
CGC - 2 (14")
Released:
Crappie - 1

Memorial Day Weekend:
Removed: 12 CC between 10-15" length



May totals:
Removed: 15 CC under 18"
4 CGC (disappointing)
3 crappie

Also caught a 22.5" channel cat and caught the first blue catfish that we stocked last fall. It measured 14.25". I've also included a picture of a redear from my small pond below that I thought had extraordinary color.







Last edited by NEDOC; 06/02/16 07:55 AM.
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Wow just caught this - great work Corey! Never considered baiting a fyke net before...good science here. If you aren't using those fish for anything else you are culling, consider freezing them for me if it's convenient, I have a project I'm working on at the pond and it requires high volume of fillets!


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TJ, I've been finding a home for them in the belly of my BC and larger CC, or so I hope. They very well could be ending up in the belly of a turtle.





































Here's a picture of a RES I caught in my small pond last night I meant to text you. They are taking very well to the Optimal.



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SWEET! Good job! What a great RES absolutely stunning and WR looks super solid.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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Updated my May totals with pictures 4 posts up. And so far I'm off to a MUCH better start in trapping in June.....

June 1, 2016:
Removed: 13 CGC (carp) 14-19"
Note: not sure what I did differently but that's certainly the most successful trapping I've had in some time. I did bait the trap with Aquamax Largemouth pellets and moved locations. But I had used a few pellets of that before without as much luck. I'll keep experimenting and see what I get for results.


June 2, 2016
Removed: 1 - CGC 17". Head scratcher as I thought I had this trapping figured out yesterday. Ugh...


June 3, 2016
Removed:
6 - CGC 15-19". Another successful trapping. Hope this keeps up!!
2 - CC 9 & 12"


June 5, 2016
Removed:
14 -CGC 12-19". Record setting catch and I had a scale with. The 14 carp weighed in at 22 lbs. Hoping to keep this up.


June 6, 2016
Removed:
3 - CGC
1 - CC 9"


June 7, 2016
Removed:
5 - CGC W/ 21" and 22" large fish

June 8, 2016
Removed:
1- CGC 16"
Released:
1-BG 7". This was a bit of a surprise

June 9, 2016
Removed:
3- CGC
1- CC 10"
1- Crappie 9"

June 12, 2016
Removed:
6 - CC 10-14" caught via jug lines
Released:
2 - CC 3.1 lbs and 5.2 lbs.

June 19, 2016
Removed:
2 - CGC 14"
7 - CC 14"
1 - Bullhead 10"
Released:
3 - Blue Cats 12-14" 😄


June 20, 2016
Rod n reel
Removed: 8 CC 8-11"
1 CGC 13"

June 26, 2016
Seine
Removed:
50 CGC 12-18"
68 crappie 8-11"
12 CC 8-12"
Released:
6 Blue Cats 16-20"



Last edited by NEDOC; 06/30/16 08:12 AM.

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I think location is key. Keep moving the net after in an area for a few days. Once you find a hotspot, keep it there until it shows reduced catch rates.


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