Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Blue Catfish & Flathead Catfish Diet

I came across a new study (From 2019) that examined the diets of Blue Catfish and Flathead Catfish from Lake Ellsworth in Oklahoma, and I thought the catfish enthusiasts on here might find it useful or interesting. Here is a picture of their results. I enlarged it a little bit because it was really small and hard to read, but in doing so, distorted some of the text.



Lots of interesting data here. I knew big cats ate Crappie, but I didn't know to what extent. To see that 84.68% of the Blue Catfish's diet (by weight) was Shad and Crappie, really affirms my decision to make those my primary forage for my BC pond. Another interesting data point was the lack of Sunfish in their diets, as Bluegill are a common bait used for both BC and FHC. It's also interesting to see that Blue Cats ate their own kind, as well as Channel Catfish, while the Flatheads didn't.

HERE is the entire study if anyone wants to check it out (pdf format).

It seems like the contents of their diets may be pretty strongly influenced by the environment where they prefer to live and hunt. Gizzard shad and drum are going to be bottom dwellers. I believe Crappie prefer hanging out in deeper water also - at least during the summer. I don't have familiarity with blues but was told by two fisheries guys to be careful if stocking in a small pond because they will eat anything and everything - one guy flat out told me not to do it and he wouldn't sell them to me. I believe BG are shallow water/near bank fish for the most part so just wouldn't be that available for cats to eat. Maybe some of the really knowledgeable folks will weigh in here and provide some education.

Yeah, I just thought that they'd have more BG in their diets. This study was done in the winter I believe, so that might have something to do with it. I am aware of the "risks" of having BC in my pond, but I'm ready for the challenge. Keeping them fed shouldn't be a big problem... I live 5 minutes from a major river in NC and catfish aren't super picky eaters, so even occasionally tossing in things like hot dogs and dog food should keep them fed, as well as commercial food pellets, which I plan to utilize. I don't plan on adding any Flatheads though. That's a beast that I'm not ready to tame lol.

Definitely going to try and transfer some mussels to the new pond!

Send some my way

Blue cats work the open water and shoreline also as do BG and LMB and crappie. I have blue cats as well as cc and they are caught anywhere you fish in my 6 ac . Cats fed at night when th BG are easy targets near the shore