Will Channel Catfish work?

[10.5" RES Sharon]

I keep hearing that to get big bluegill one needs bass to keep the numbers down. Will channel catfish work just as well, as I have only a 1/4 acre pond?  I have about 150 small young BG and there seem to be 12 or less catfish. Hoping to get an answer here, as I can't navigate all the forums in Pond Boss. If I HAVE to get bass, would only 1 work so it can't multiply?

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Sharon, CC will forage on your BG, but not enough to keep the numbers down I don't believe. Be very careful with CC. They can easily become big and hook shy and then you have a biomass problem in your pond. Why are you against LMB in your pond? If you want a trophy BG pond, you want larger numbers of smallish LMB. If I were you, I would revisit PondBoss. Use the search function, which I realize isn't always the most user friendly, but search for 'channel' in the subject and go back about 5 years so a lot of threads pop up. You'll have some good reading material before you make a decision.

[Johnny wilkins]

Are there sterile bass available or sterile channel catfish?!

[C Barb]

I dont think so, but I have seen female only lmb stocking

[10.5" RES Sharon]

Never seen any advertised, nor have I seen male only. Maybe if I get less that 20, they will sex them.

[Walt Foreman]

Josh is right - catfish won't do a good job of keeping the bluegill thinned out. Additionally, they relish pellet food, and once they get to be four or five pounds they'll literally knock the bluegill out of the way with their tails to keep the bluegill from getting to the food. If you're after big bluegill, the key is just to keep in mind that that's your goal and not trick yourself into thinking you can't stock bass because if you let them overpopulate as you should for the bluegill, they won't grow. Go from the starting point that you're considering not even adding bass - then add several bass so they'll accomplish your purpose for them, i.e. huge bluegill. The key is just to stay focused on the goal; a lot of pond managers make people think that if they have bass in a pond they have to manage to get the bass big, hence the recommendations of only stocking one or two bass in a pond your size - but big bass is contrary to, and impossible to achieve with, the goal of trophy bluegill, at least in the sense of the bluegill reaching their maximum size. For a pond your size I would stock 25 4-6" (smaller and the catfish will eat them, or the bluegill if they're fingerlings) LMB, and never allow any of them, or their offspring, to be kept. In a few years you may have as many small bass as you do bluegill in the pond - but your bluegill will average bigger than the bass, as much as a pound apiece if you're running an automatic feeder on the pond and feeding multiple times daily during the warm months.

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

Walt is describing a pond scenario that I'm contemplating building over the next couple years after I get my main pond up and running and that is a 'kid friendly' pond. Inspired by a recent PondBoss article, I think having an overstocked bass pond would be awesome for kids to catch little bass on nearly every cast. And, as Walt pointed out, is also a way to get yourself potentially trophy size BG, which would be the other goal of this smaller pond. I'm very excited about this pond possibility.

[Johnny wilkins]

I would like to work with 2 people regarding building the perfect kid's fishing / bluegill pond. Anyone interested , please contact me with some backround and results you have had.
To my pond. I add several urban factors which need to be dealt with.
I have some ideas, but want to formalize something and put together a package for pond development - especially for cities looking to "improve" their pond.
Has anyone ever created a temporary pond to hold fish or created a temporary area next to a dam?
Contact me with your expertise. John

[Josh Milczski (Omaha)]

What do you mean you want to work with 2 people on a kid's pond? Building it? Stocking it?

I will be digging probably a couple very small "temporary ponds" to hold forage for my pond. Is that what you were thinking?

[10.5" RES Sharon]

I did get some LMB for my pond and creek.  I rarely catch one. I have been removing any catfish I catch in my pond or creek as they get in the way of catching bluegill. Strangely enough, last summer the catfish were coming to the pond surface and eating a lot of my fish food. This year, not one  surfaced all summer.  I have caught a few, and a few have broken my line. I seem to have very few bluegill left either.

[C Barb]

Well from my experience I have witnessed with my own pond that the channel cats will not control the numbers. The cc's will eat the bluegill but not nearly as many as it will take to keep your numbers in control. Before I stocked my bass the bank around the entire pond was so many bg, gsf, and minnows i didnt think they could be controled. And the channel cats were already in at this point.  Well now the bank activity has trmendously slowed down. The bass are thriving and nuthing seems to be skinny or stunted