I've put in several pieces of 8-inch PVC pipe that are each about 6-foot long. One of them is fairly close to shore and covered with brush. For the last couple of years I've seen a big catfish, with not much more than its whiskers and nose sticking out of one end. I've had some recruitment, but as far as I can tell, it has been very minimal. Possibly I never saw the fry and they were eaten by the bass before anything happened. However, every once in a while, I'm surprised by a catfish, or two, that could not have been stocked, based on their size and my stocking schedule.
A number of years ago I believe that I accidentally got some white catfish that were apparently mixed in with channel cats that I was stocking. I've had some recruitment with them. Here is one that was obviously born in my pond due to its size. I've caught several others that were larger than this guy.
I've also tried 5-gallon buckets and some big plastic flower pots that looked like urns. Neither seemed to interest the catfish.
