Feeding catfish in ponds?

[tps7742]

I have a place in the country with a pond and only make it up a couple of times a month. With the exception of a traditional type fish feeder, is there another type of supplemental food source I can feed the catfish? Thanks and any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Bobby-Catfishing]

I would stock plenty of fathead minnows in there. They spawn several times a year and provide a quality forage base. You'll need about 10 lbs per surface acre to get it going and may need to restock the following year. Be sure you also have a good population of bream or blue gills in there too. They will feed your catfish while you're not around. We've bought from Dunn's Fish Farm last time. They deliver to quite a few local feed stores. There's some good information on their website as well.

http://www.dunnsfishfarm.com/

[Leemo]

I agree with Bobby, Dunns is great, they stand behind what they say and deliver, I stocked my pond about 4 yrs. ago, channels, bass, and bluegills, I screwed up and got the hybrid blues, they don't reproduce enough to be considered forage, get the copper nose, as far as feeding cats, I don't anymore, I only fed them to get them started...

[tps7742]

Thanks for the information.

[VonOrmyAggie]

Are there any rules that say you can't catch perch from a lake and put them in your tank? What about catfish, as long as they are keepers?

And yes, I know that you'd better be careful to only place bluegills in the tank, since red ear and rio grandes can screw things up.

Thanks for any help.

[Bobby-Catfishing]

As long as the fish are legal size and caught in a legal manner, you can stock them in your PRIVATE tank. You can not transfer fish from one public water body to another. Just remember that you are taking a risk of transfering any disseases or parasites the fish might be carrying into your tank.

[gator]

I have a pond and put fathead minnows and Tilapia for forage. The Tilapia you will have to get out of your pond before the water temp gets below 55 degrees. The catfish will eat most of them but you can catch the rest with a net and have a fish fry. The big thing about the Tilapia is that they control the Algae in the pond which is very important.