Posted: 5/13/2012 2:38:25 PM EDT
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I have myself a little pond I dug a year and a half ago, and I have been throwing mature catfish into it. They are flatheads, or mud cats, also called yellow cats. All the ones I toss in are 14inches or larger, some 24 inches. Probably about 15 tossed in. the pond size is hard to estimate, it is less than a quarter acre, wtih the deepest spot no deeper than 12 feet.
Will the catfish do what everything else does, and procreate? I recently learned their food converstion is phenominal - 1.5 pounds of food for every 1 pound of catfish. Going to ask over at www.pondboss.com too! |
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They should procreate just fine (assuming the mix of sexes). You need food - they will eat just about anything.
I assume you have put in natural feed and cover plants - water lily, cattail. Dumping some cover logs, stumps, etc - helps the little ones hide as well. Throw in some frogs as well. I'd put in some crawfish and freshwater clams. All are food sources and all filter the water down. And some top cover will help them during the beastly heat of summer since your pond isn't so deep, it will heat through. So shelter (even a floating dock) will be welcome to them to hide from the sun, plus great to fish from. |
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Quoted:
This is a real mystery to me. The guys over at pondboss.com stock bait fish called "forage" like big headed minoows. Contrary to popular belief, catfish are pretty voracious predators. Most folks consider them scavengers, but they'll definitely take baitfish, crayfish, etc. We catch a couple a year on artificials when out for largemouth bass. Most of these are on crankbaits–– big, noisy, deep-diving, fast-moving lures. I suspect that you really want to start with a reasonably well established pond with lots of structure, some deep water, and a good population of live food on the hoof. |
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Catfish will eat just about anything that will fit through their mouth, so that's just about anything. Besides the normal floating food, my aunt also feeds hers table scraps. That could be chicken scraps to left over salad, they pretty much eat it all. If they're used to you feeding them they're also super easy to catch. My aunt doesn't catch them for sport, she just wants a couple for the table. Literally 15 minutes from her getting out the fishing pole to cleaning a couple of them on her outdoor butcher table.
It might be heresy, but I've never been the biggest fan of catfish. I have a decent sized pond (1 1/2 acre) that is stocked with bluegill and bass. I've had to stop friends in the past from stocking a few catfish in it, I won't let them in. They bluegill and bass aren't nearly as easy to get in the pan so I guess I'll have to work a little harder at it if the SHTF. |
| Throw some bluegills and whatever other local fish you have in the area in your pond too and just let it do it's thing. If your pond is deep enough not to freeze the fish in the winter there isn't anything you have to do. Everyone has always told me yellow belly cats reproduce in large numbers so there will be a shit ton of smaller cats in there soon enough. |
| If I lived in a suitable area, I'd be all over aquaponics. That would be the ultimate SHTF food source. |
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Quoted: Will the catfish do what everything else does, and procreate? I recently learned their food converstion is phenominal - 1.5 pounds of food for every 1 pound of catfish. They will (ours did). Problem we have is that since the bass got big enough to fir a baby catfish in their mouths, we haven't had any more little catfish... |
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I put in my 100,000 gallon pond last July.
it filled up by this January. 100 x 100' and 12 ft deep at center. I put in 4lbs of fathead minnows and 100 BLUE Cats last month. blues are much cleaner than mudcats.. none have floated to the top yet. I have an abundance of Bullfrogs and crawfish already.(Google Texas Prarire Crawfish) I am on TURTLE Watch daily,,they eat your baby fish. I sunk 3 16" tires into the pond before it filled,,they''re the breeding caves. I also planning 2 Homer Buckets, 1/4 full of rocks and a few holes for same purpose dropped at center when neighbor brings over his 14' john boat as a loaner.. DID NOT get my peir in as planned last month due to a family issue, but, gonna try this week to get something set up. so far not hot enough to worry about alge bloom, thats my main concern. I Have 2 solar floating pumps on the way from CHINA, they run off the sun and will spray water in the air, hopefully adding oxygenation to the water. for cats, from my reading, you do not need a lot of "stuff" in the water..they stay deep during the day, rise to feed sunup and sun down. I use floater food for my first run, but understand they'll eat cheap dog food as well. I use a $3 hula hoop for a feeder ring,,havnt seen them eat yet, but the food is gone with in 2 days. at this point, all I can say is no dead fish, I have seen 2 breach the surface and they appear larger than a month ago. someone mentions cattails and lilly pads. UNLESS you want your pond full of crap, dont, both are invasive and choke out the pond eventally. a neighbors 5' deep pond dried out this past summer,,2' of dead pads he cleand out with a small dozer.. there are some GOOD healthy green growth for a pond,,,,but I havent really discoverd any as yet I want to deal with.. up dates to come if asked.. TEXAS AG has a manual Catfish Ponds for Recreation.. good info! CHEF.. |
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Would rather raise Tilapia fish than nasty catfish. One of the prepper shows the guy did this and said they produce alot and he did this in a shallow swimming pool Tilapias are considered an Invasive Species and require warm water, check local laws. Check with your conservation department they will tell you the best fish for your area. For my area it was Bluegill, Bass, and Catfish. Put a solar panel with a battery a low watt blue light close to the water it will attract the most insects for the fish to eat. |