# So I stocked my pond.....



## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

Pond is right at 1/3 acre. I put in 20 hybrid blue cats, 10 largemouth bass, 200 hybrid bluegill, 300 coppernose bluegill, 200 red ear sunfish, and 4000 fat head minnows. I feed em 2 times a day, and everything is growing looking good. 

It's been about 4 months now and The other day I took the kids out to go cane pole some perch, and noticed a very large splash. The fish is very quick so I can't get a good look at him, but he looks to be about 20-24". And almost looks a little like a yellow cat. But I can't really tell...all the fish I put in were less than 5" when I put them in 4 months ago. There's no ponds, streams, lakes nearby for a rogue fish to travel from and I wiped the pond out prior to stocking. 

Anybody have any hybrid blues blow up that fast (5" to 20")? Or is one of my friends messing with me?


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

How new is the pond?


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## SwampRat (Jul 30, 2004)

Let's see...biological anomaly or beer brothers?....

Hmmm....


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

The pond was dug this time last year, and rain filled it up within 2 weeks of it being dug. And yea everybody I question denies knowing anything...beer buddies tend to slip up and say stuff. Henneke fish hatchery did tell me the hybrid blues could grow 5 lbs in a year if fed 3 times a day. I just don't know if it's a blue....


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Can't help with growth rate of the hybrid blues, but be suspicious of your friends.


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## Castaway2 (Aug 8, 2013)

our lease pond completely dried up during the drought couple years ago, the first year it filled back up we were catching 3lb bass around 20"s. i asked the rancher and he didn't stock it.. i cant figure where they came from we decided the survived in the mud for a year. this was not just one or 2. I pulled out 15 in that range in a matter of 30 minutes the tank is maybe 60yds wide by 100yds long. makes getting the ducks off the middle with a fishing pole even more sport. ( how we discovered them )


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

I believe fertilized fish eggs get transported by birds in the water. So you could have fish in your pond a year old.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

I would suspect a bird transported carp egg product. Carp have a yellowish tint and love to break water at random times.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

Idk. When I get back from west tx I'm gonna try to catch that dude.


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## jtford25 (Apr 17, 2006)

Could be a real pale mud cat. They are in every body of water in Texas 


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

A couple of jug lines with live large perch for bait just to make sure it ain't an flat-head, because one flathead will soon be the only fish in a small pond.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

yea this weekend im gonna try and rig up something to get him......whatever it is. pics to follow


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## texaswillie7 (Aug 25, 2016)

I have been told that birds will carry fish from pond to pond, not sure if true or not but yeah


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

Maybe?

_A 5-pound catfish fell from the sky near a Philadelphia museum and smacked a woman in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Lobree says the catfish coldcocked her on Labor Day as she was walking near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Passers-by saw it happen.

The best explanation is that a large bird caught the fish and accidentally dropped it on her._

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/11/woman-hit-knocked-to-ground-by-catfish-that-fell-from-sky.html

EDIT: Just noticed the other thread!


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

sorry it took so long to update. a friend of mine took his kid out there fishing. they caught a couple of the hybrid blue cats that was about 16"-18". I cant believe they are that big already because when I stocked the pond back in May the were about 5". 

anyways we came to the conclusion that big splashes we kept seeing were the catfish.......then....
my 4 year old daughter and I went out to put up my deer feeder. while I was standing it up, she started whining about the heat and wanting to go home. I took her to the pond and got her some fish food so she would let me finish with the deer feeder. the fish were blowing up the food and she kept saying "oh my gosh dad come look! I see the mystery fish!" I was trying to finish wiring the solar panel up so I said "ok ill be there in a minute....". after multiple attempts to get me to come look, I finally gave in and walked over.....BAM!!! there he was. prolly about a 30" alligator gar. he was tearing up the fish food

still no one has confessed to putting anything in there, and I thought I killed everything when I cleared the pond with aluminum sulphate. who knows, but im thinking about keeping him...


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Wow I have been waiting for the update and didn't have any idea that it would be a gator gar!
And 30" I wonder where it came from.
I have caught more gator gar this year than I have in total for the 56 years I have been fishing.
Looks like the one per day limit has saved those rare fish!



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## Rivercat1860 (Dec 10, 2014)

I second that on the gator gar this year, it has been crazy on the river while trying to catfish. They are plentiful on the Trinity river and its subsidiary's that's for sure!

Red


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

That gator gar at his size shouldn't hurt your fish population. They are a predatory fish but have to swallow their prey whole. If he is accustomed to eating the fish food he shouldn't have much of a need to prey on your fish population. They are a pretty cool fish.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

yea I went and fed yesterday to see if I could see him any better. I hit the timer and bam there he was like clockwork. I got a better way closer look at him and id say hes closer to 26". the gar population has to be growing down here due to all the rain up north pushing the fish to the coast. idk how mine got in, maybe birds maybe someone messing with me. I guess if the catfish are growing 12" in 5 months then its possible the gar lived through the aluminum sulphate treatment, and has been living in there for over a year. no telling.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

Fishin' Soldier said:


> That gator gar at his size shouldn't hurt your fish population. They are a predatory fish but have to swallow their prey whole. If he is accustomed to eating the fish food he shouldn't have much of a need to prey on your fish population. They are a pretty cool fish.


its settled im keeping him


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## waderaider (May 21, 2004)

The blue cats will eat your bass and blue Gill. I would get the out.

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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

The Blues could eliminate the perch population and the small bass. Lots of competition. But since you feed they may get spoiled and not eat as many live fish.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

yea im feeding 2 times a day. I kinda feel like everything is growing at an equal pace except the catfish. they are around 16", the bass are around 10", the hybrid bluegill are around 7"...the coppernose bluegill are my supplement for the bass and catfish. from what I read they reproduce at a rapid rate and and I do see spawning beds in the shallows. im hoping to have a closely balanced system, but who knows...if I notice a decline ill just have a decent little fish fry and start over.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

A pond that size will go either bass, or, cat fish after a while without a heavy management plan being implemented. It sounds like you are on top of it and I'n ooking forward to hearing how it goes. Keep us posted please.


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## Tomahawg (Aug 5, 2015)

I don't think the Hybrid Blues will spawn, or at least I was told they wouldn't. 

So you will need to replace what you take out. Having said that, I think you probably overstocked on blues. I would have used channel cat in that size pond. Depending on how much cover is in the pond, I would suspect your forage fish will be wiped out by spring depending on the size bluegill you stocked. 


Good luck, but if you start again, its a good idea to get the fat heads and bluegills a seasons start before introducing the predator fish.


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

ive noticed lots of hybrid bluegill in the 6" range numerous small bluegill during feeding. so there are definitely some kind of reproduction cycle happening. i also believe there was a minnow hatch since stocking because they are everywhere. 

the reason I went with hybrid bluecats was no spawning. henneke fish hatchery told me they were a like a cross between a channel cat and a blue cat, so they wont get too massive. also hybrid bluegill wont reproduce but they get huge fast. so since I had fish that wouldn't reproduce I needed something to supplement the predators, so I added coppernose bluegill. was told they reproduce constantly. idk we'll see. it was only a $700 experiment


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## quackattack (Jul 4, 2011)

last year at different times I noticed some bluewings, red heads, and some grey ducks chillin in there. hopefully this winter I can get my little girl to pot shoot a couple with a .410. hehe.


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## texastkikker (Dec 24, 2008)

shadslinger said:


> A pond that size will go either bass, or, cat fish after a while without a heavy management plan being implemented. It sounds like you are on top of it and I'n ooking forward to hearing how it goes. Keep us posted please.


^^^^^ yes sir......I have a little tank in the backyard at the house. I kill every cat we catch out of it no matter how small....killed some that were only 3" LG. I want BASS!!!!!


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