Hey Jack, we all started where you are. I consider myself not an expert but just a long term student of water holes with fish.
Channel cats do a very poor job of reproducing in ponds; especially smaller ones. It is exceedingly rare or maybe highly unusual for them to escape predation. Small CC's travel in schools and are very easily picked off. Forget reproduction on cats. BTW, 95% or more of the eggs laid by any fish do not result in a one year old. That's Mama Nature at work.
Removing bass by fishing is definitely needed. But, in a pond you can't catch them all. Heck, nobody can. They get hook shy.
Another thought about stocking density. 1/4 acre ponds might be 1/4 acre at the end of May but, by the end of Summer, will almost certainly be a lot smaller. Too many fish, at that time, can easily result in an oxygen crash with the larger fish dying first. Been there; done that more than once.
BTW, one of my ponds starts out at about 1/4 acre. By the end of Summer, it's a lot smaller and learning new steps for my rain dance hasn't worked. It has bluegills, green sunfish, about a dozen cats and supposedly some redears. In May of 2016, I added 25 cats at about 4 to 5 inches. Only about a dozen appear to be still living. I have to seine it every year about June and remove some bluegills and green sunfish. If I didn't, I would get an O2 crash. They get fed when I get there on weekends.
However, what you want can be done if you have a source of water to make up for evaporation. To do it right, you will need aeration. You should also eliminate all present fish by nuking the pond and starting over.
Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 02/18/18 10:11 AM.
