Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What will Flathead do to a small pond?

All you folks seem to get pretty scared of flatheads. Here in Iowa, I don't know of any ponds without at least a couple of flatties swimming around...and they're plenty of catchable fish in them.

I've caught flat's out of at least 3 ponds myself...and I'll put at least a couple in each of my ponds sometime. They hurt nothing, and it's not like they're great white sharks. Even if they eat a decent sized gill (and they WILL), it's only 1 a day or so, and, unlike CC, they go truly dormant during winter. So they only eat for maybe 7 months or so, each year.

That only amounts to a couple hundred fish a year...and I guarantee you they don't target tropies. They'll eat whatever they can catch...maybe it's a 2 lb bass, but even they need thinned out. Maybe it's a 6" BG...oh well.

They're just another part of a healthy ecosystem.