Bob Lusk, the Pond Boss, talks about raising healthy catfish in small ponds, and what how to stock your pond to grow catfish. Compare the recommended stocking rates when feeding to that of not feeding. Feeding Your Catfish. Even though blue catfish feed the same way as the channel catfish, using its barbels to find food, they also prey on your baitfish population. Food-size catfish can lose up to 10 percent of their pre-winter body weight without a winter feeding program. What to feed Largemouth Bass in a Pond. Channel catfish grow fine without feeding in most ponds when stocked at 100 or fewer per acre. Winter feeding helps Most fish feeds have quality ingredients formulated with required vitamins and minerals to stimulate fish growth and maintenance of good health. Consumption of feed by catfish is directly related to water temperature. Not harvesting a fed, heavily stocked catfish pond can lead to low oxygen levels and fish kills. When stocking channel catfish into a pond with an established largemouth bass population, advanced fingerling catfish longer than 8 inches should be stocked to avoid significant depredation of supplementally stocked catfish. During initial 10 days of period,20 to 25 % of feed should be provided. Automatic Fish Feeders. Meats tend to produce very high nutrient levels and drag down water quality. Next day the blue and 1 jumped the pond spillway and the other blue eyed albino is missing. Catfish may spawn in such ponds, but adult bass consume most, if not all, catfish fry and fingerlings. Large catfish do not convert feed efficiently, so it is not cost effective to feed large numbers of big catfish. Blue catfish will also grow much larger than their channel catfish cousins, reaching upwards of 100 pounds in some large reservoirs. The optimal water temperature for growing catfish is 80-86 degrees F. Feeding a week on warmer days when there is no ice on ponds. Size of the pond, number of fish and the presence of an aeration system are all factors that determine how much your fish need to be fed. Supplemental feed should be provided two to three times per week. When stocked at the same time, channel catfish fingerlings should be larger than bass fingerlings. Feeding Catfish Pond 4 - Duration: 2:18. If a creek feeds water into your pond, you're likely to find catfish here. FEEDING YOUR FISH One of the keys to any successful pond or lake is food supply. Feeding catfish in commercial ponds. 6pp. A single female channel catfish can spawn 2,000 to 50,000 young. Table 2. Forty nutrients have been identified as necessary for the normal metabolic function of channel catfish. Catfish is naturally a carnivorous animal, which means they feed more on animals in the pond than the plants. Feed Management in Raising Catfish. hot summer days. Verify feed consumption at least one time each I took 3 fish from a lake 2 albino and 1 blue cat. But, the intensive fish farming can not provide it with a holistic opportunity of being carnivorous. If you do not plan to feed the catfish, it is a go… Fish grow faster and are healthier. How Much to Feed. Catfish tend to hide in lakes and ponds. If there is algae or other vegetation in your pond, catfish are likely to be found here. Each pond supports a limited number of catfish per acre, so channel catfish commonly becomes overpopulated without bass. from decomposition of the uneaten food. They'll eat just about anything they can find on the bottom of a pond. These pellets will remain on the bottom and allow the bluegill to feed slowly on the offering. Feeding can be done every third day or on the warmer days during the winter. One of my favorite baits is the King Kat Chicken Blood. This also is an option for larger ponds when a pond manager primarily wants a channel catfish fishery. Here’s the feed size I recommend for bigger fishes, based on their size/weight, if you’re to give them floating feed: 10 – 50 grams: 2mm feed size; 50 – 150 grams: 3mm feed size Read on to learn more. 2:18. Channel catfish is one of the three most commonly stocked fish species in Southern Great Plains (largemouth bass and bluegill are the others). Feed a grain-based feed. Aeration in the pond will allow your fish to be more active, requiring you to feed more aggressively. parasites. Generally, catfish likes feeding at night times. Factors affecting feeding practices Feeding catfish is far from an exact science. Feed your fish 4-6 days a week to achieve maximum growth and efficient feed conversion. The floating feed is desired by most catfish producers because of its management value. Juvenile (6 – 10 grams): 2mm feed size; Post-juvenile (10 – 50 grams): 2mm feed size; As your fishes grow, the size of feed they can pick will increase. 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