# stock pond



## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Here's a good subject for all of you shade tree biologists. I have a 200' x 180' tank in one of the pastures. The depth is about 15' in the middle. There are cattails at either end, and on one side. We stocked the tank about 9 years ago with channels, blues, perch, bass, and a slew of minnows. At the time, I also rolled 4, 4' cement culverts into the middle of the tank. The issue is that I see no evidence of the catfish spawning. The adults are from 12 to 20 + pounds, but I never have seen any young ones. I have been told that the bass are porbably eating the young catfish but I figure a few would survive. At any rate, I have been advised to remove the bass if I want to raise catfish. I enjoy catching both the bass and catfish and would rather not eliminate either. So far I have been releasing all the catfish I catch in hopes that they would eventually spawn but now I am thinking about taking them all out, and starting over. Any advice ? I have the rotenone (sp) handy.
p.s., if anyone needs trotline bait let me know. I need to get rid of some of the perch.


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## Hawkeye (May 21, 2004)

Shoot JDS, I don't know a darn thing about raising fish in a tank other than an aquarium, and I'm not too handy at that.... I'd get a hold of somebody out in your area that does the commercial catfish breeding thing and ask their advice. There has to be a way to breed 'em in a tank... yours sounds large enough... a friend of mine dug a "pond" in his back yard about twenty years ago. It's about half as big as yours. He stocked it with channels and blues and had a zillion of baby catfish in there in no time flat. Maybe the bass are eating the little ones, but you'd thing (like you said) some of them would make it... Is it possible you have all males or females in there? Probably not, huh?


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## mudd_catt (May 22, 2004)

I have seen the very thing you are talking about. Get rid of the bass. My father had that same problem with his pond. It was tear-dropped shaped, about an acre big and about 14 ft deep in front of the levee. He stocked it every other year 6 years and every time drained it before-hand and KEPT getting big bass out of it. Come to find out, the neighbor on top of the hill was "helping" him stock it by releasing some big bass into it every time he drained it. But after Dad got rid of the help and informed the neighbor NOT to put any more bass into it, he had a great catfish lake. He even put crappie and perch in it after the catfish were establisahed, with no adverse effects.

Are you SURE there are no small fish? Do you feed them? If so, the larger fish may be running the smaller fish away from the feed. The best way to find out is to drain it top a manageable level, and seine it.


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

Seems odd that you would not have any baby catfish. Yet, you have an over abundance of perch. Seems like the bass would keep them in check too.


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## frank n texas (Aug 11, 2004)

*Stock pond*

Hi...

Last week I spent several evenings on line looking at numerous sites dedicated to ponds in general and fish in ponds. Seems most of what I read would lead me to think you are correct in that the Bass are eating you fingerling catfish..
Guess ya cannot have your cake and eat it too even in fishing in ponds. <G>
If you will go into whatever search engine you use (Mine is Yahoo) and just start plugging in random word searches like Ponds in Texas, Pond Maint.
Stocking your Pond, etc, etc, I feel you will find more that you really wanted to know..LOL
I am in the process of stocking a family pond over in Mississippi which as you probably know is the Catfish Captiol of the World so I went on all sites relating to Mississippi even thought I am in Texas..Found good info on what to feed as far as % of protein, how to fertilize a pond, how to prevent a pond from being depleted of its oxygen (pond turnover), when to buy fish, where to buy fish, etc , etc..
You could have all of us come over and help you catch and eat all of those bad Bass. <G>
frank n texas


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks for the info guys. It is looking like a gigantic fish fry is in order. If I do decide to drain it, I'll post so anyone who cares to can come and fill their ice chest. Thanks again, Jeff


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## TXPalerider (May 21, 2004)

JDS:

I got an 11 year old that will help you empty that tank of them nasty old green-lipped sucker fish.


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## Bigcat (Jul 11, 2004)

Cut open a few bass and see what's inside .... If your going to get rid of them anyway.
Good luck whatever you do ..


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## mudd_catt (May 22, 2004)

Eat 'em! Eat 'em all!


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## NightTrain (May 21, 2004)

*Jds...*

Bigtime welcome to ya ,hoss....Sounds like a drainin' is in order for you to get the desired results...I kinda think MuddCatt was on to somethin'when he mentioned that the feller was gettin' "help"stockin' his pond...Ain't no tellin' what's in there,if'n ya got folks accessin' it often.A poster recently found a alligator gar in his that was messin' things up.Good luck with all that and fill us in on how it goes!


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## NightTrain (May 21, 2004)

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: [email protected].


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## Blackgar (Aug 4, 2004)

*Pond*

Get rid of the catfish & let the Bass grow


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## mudd_catt (May 22, 2004)

Hey! We'll not have that kinda language round here!  :slimer:


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## NightTrain (May 21, 2004)

....at MuddCatt.You're on a roll tonight,bro!!!


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## JDS (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks again for the welcomes and replies. I'll keep you posted on the stock pond saga.


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## gator (May 22, 2004)

Another thing that I have learned on my pond is that the catfish seem to need a current in the tank for them to spawn like some sort of oxygen source like an aerator or something like that. On my pond I just go ahead and stock catfish.


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## Hawkeye (May 21, 2004)

Gator,
That's an interesting observation. I didn't know catfish need current in order to spawn, but it makes sense that the eggs need fresh water moving over them to keep them alive. I used to raise fish in an aquarium, and the egg layers would fan the eggs like bluegills do in order to keep them healthy.... I read once that male catfish guard eggs... does anyone know if that's true?


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## JJ1 (May 28, 2004)

i stocked my tank about 2 years ago with 50, 6-8" blue cats. i also put some 5-7 piund blue cats with a few 4# channles. my tank is around 100' by 100' and 13' or less deep in teh middle with a small flat 1-2' deep flat at the north end. i have a rockpile made of snad stone at the south end, a few tires at the northeast side and a small brush pile at the west side. the tank has perch and a few cats to begin with. i waited approx. 8 months before stockin with 20, 2-4# bass and about a dozen 12" bass. i currently have 95% less perch than i used to. the minnow pop. is fair but needs more by the new year. my bass pop. has gone up 500% and the catfish pop. has gone up 3-350%. this years bass spwan are about 12-13" and skinny. looks anorexic to me. the 6-8" cats i stockedd it with to ebgin with are now 3-4# and very fat. the 2-4# bass are 3-6# and the 5-7# ats are 7-9#. most perch are 4-6" and just a very small supply of smaller ones. 

i owuld suggest you shock you tank via a biologist. you will e surpirzed what this shockin can do. remember that a catfish/bass (more bass tean cat) needs shallow water to spawn. a 1-3' flat would be a good start for this. if you do decide to drain and restock, restock with a catfish fingerlings and adult catfish at the same time. dont stock with large perch. 1-2" perch should be good. also wait after teh cats spawn (2-3 months) to stock with bass/crappie etc. for structure, take out all the weeds around the bank. make a good rock pile about 10' by 10' by 4' at one end, a brush pile 10' by 10' by ? and a tire pile 5 -7 tires layde side by side in a cirlcualr formation. the tires are hard to sink when the tank has water. do all the structure before the tan refills. also you might want to put soem caly or sand on teh bottom............2%....................JJ


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## Hawkeye (May 21, 2004)

Are the tires a place for catfish to spawn?


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## NightTrain (May 21, 2004)

Good post,JJ...Thanks.


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## NightTrain (May 21, 2004)

Hey Hawkeye....the tires are for the spawners.There's a guy at Kerr Lake that puts a few around his dock and takes notes on the inhabitants and their habits.


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