Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking What do CC do ?

What good are Channel Catfish in a pond other than to Catch and Eat ?

Nocturnal predator

So they only eat the fish that come out at night. ?

Well, technically, all fish are 'out' at night, but I think Theos is just stating one of their roles as being a nocturnal feeder.

That, and members of the Edgar Winter Group.

Exactomundo.

Theo has this correct. CC is primarily active most often nocturnally and preys on fish that are in a resting mode at night.

I am curious with all the responses, what do they have to do with the question being ask
What good are they for a pond ?
They are good because they eat at night? That doesn’t sound like a very logical answer

Jason,

Here are few other things. If you don't have too many, CC grow very well without feed and generally outgrow LMB in typical farm ponds with BG. One study which determined standing crops in OK farm ponds found 100% of the populations of CC to be of harvestable size. The reason is probably owing to the lack of recruitment. CC are predators but also scavengers and they will clean up fish that succumb to the rigors of spawning or old age. They are good to eat with a mild firm flesh. You will have less FA with them because they will consume some of it as they forage for other things. FA has a very common presence in their stomach contents. CB100, one of our members, employs an ingenious intuition along that line. He can clear small areas of FA by feeding his CC a sinking feed that settles into the FA. The CC consume FA as they consume the feed. All in all, CC are a good fish that will compete to some extent with LMB. Feeding them will reduce the completion to some extent. Feeding will also lesson turbidity to some extent. In a modest density, say 10 large adults per acre however, CC don't cause a lot of turbidity. In fact, I can say none in my experience. In large numbers of smaller CC they seem to invariably muddy the water by foraging intensively on the bottom. They get hook smart but I can tell you my son has caught several clipped CC many times over through the years. One should probably separate CC fishing by a few weeks because they are indeed smarter than other fish when it comes to being hook smart. The density of catfish in two ponds is around 8 fish/acre. They are good sized ranging from 4 to 8 lbs.

Jpsdad,
Thanks for the response, exactly what I was wanting to know

Another catfish question
Once catfish are stocked in a pond how long until they will recognize when and where pellets are
being thrown out for them to eat? These are maybe 6” long
Qty:100 were stocked in a 5 acre pond last Thursday, I have thrown floating food out just before dark
the last 2 evenings and have seen nothing. There are no other fish in the pond other than maybe a million
FHM and a few LMB fingerlings

Jason,

There is a lot of space for them in 5 acres and you just haven't connected with them yet. I think what I might try is to moisten it to saturation and the squeeze it in your hand to compress enough air out that it sinks. This way it wont be blown away or to the edges. Do this in the spot that you want to feed them regularly from. It's scent will attract them once they swim close enough as they make their rounds. After about a week try throwing some feed in the same spot to see if they will take it floating. Your feed might be a little big for 6" fish. It might help to break it up a bit until they grow a little bigger.

Are you planning to stock BG for the LMB?

If nothing else I am feeding a lot of Minnows, The water is boiling with them within minutes
Yes there will be additional forage stocking. Just having a difficult time sourcing the correct fish
New Pond, New Fish, getting excited to see some activity since there has been nothing but Minnows in it since eradicating it the first day of ownership

On another thread about CC, someone made a very salient comment about CC hitting feed. I think it was jludwig but can't recall.

This person talked about how early on, you don't really see the CC feeding. Perhaps they are too timid. But once they reach a certain size to where they are not at risk from other fish or factors, then they will be very visible and active when feeding. This was also based around a comment about CC more likely to feed at low light conditions, but the person talked about how once they reached a certain size, you'd see them come to feed at any time during the day. This has matched my experience.

So, my guess is that you won't really be able to see CC feeding for a year or so, with certainty, until they get to the 12"+ range, or so, or maybe larger.

Take an area that is roughly 21 feet by 100 feet. Now try to spot ONE 6" long fish in that area. That is what you are trying to do to see 100 CC in your pond.

Jason D, while your stocking numbers of CC, (100) in a 5 acre pond, may be light by some people's standards, I would have done very similar if it was me. I like CC as a bonus fish and as a diversity aspect.

Having said that, I think it will be at least a year before you really see them, maybe longer.