Anyone else want chime in if think be good idea to remove the Chanel cats to help the bluegill and basd
As I said before, remove them before they become predominately piscivorous. When they breach 18" then take them out. Soooooooo ...
1. Fish out the ones that are in there. Don't release any.
2. To increase harvest, add 10 to 15 CC each spring (this year too) in the (9" to 12" lengths - 12" better than 9"). Feed them.
3. Beginning this Fall stop feeding and catch them as you want removing all of them if possible by next spring before you stock again. Fish to harvest them ... don't release any.
If you do this, the catfish will not take a heavy toll on 6" to 12" LMB that could disrupt the population structure that helps you grow large BG. But there remains one last thing. Don't make your pond pea soup with feed. If the visibility remains less than 18" to 24" for extended periods of time say longer than 3 weeks at time ... two things will happen. BG reproduction will increase and LMB consumption of BG in relation to reproduction will decrease. In other words, too many BG may pass the LMB gauntlet causing slower growing BG. Every pond I have ever fished that was a sustainable (year after year) large BG factory had water you could see into 24" and at times might be clearer than that. While this condition isn't going maximize production of LMB, a higher proportion of the BG are going to be harvestable and memorable to catch ... which is what you are trying to accomplish.
