How to Make a Catfish Pond

Making a catfish pond is one of the more rewarding fishing ponds to build as catfish are not only fun to catch but make for some tasty food for family meals. Whether you're building a new pond or converting an existing one, catfish are relatively easy to stock and raise. Follow a few key steps for making a catfish pond a recreational magnet for you and yours to enjoy.

Things You'll Need

• Excavation contractor
• Seine
• Rotenone
• Water test kit
• Agricultural limestone
• Pond fertilizer
• Secchi disk
• Grass carp stocking permit
• Catfish fingerlings
• High protein fish feed
• Fish feeder (optional)
• Surface aerator

Instructions

1. Contact at least three excavation companies to acquire the most competitive pricing for building a new pond. Build the pond in an area that has standing water or harbors aquatic plants. Design the pond to be no less than two surface acres and no deeper than 15 feet. Install an emergency spillway and standpipe to handle heavy rains and overflow.

2. If adapting your existing pond, seine out all unwanted fish that would otherwise compete against your catfish for food and habitat. These undesirable fish include all types of bream, bullhead catfish, carp or koi, shad, shiners and suckers. Consider the pescicide Rotenone for chemical eradication.

3. Test your water chemistry for hardness concentration. If results show less than 50 mg/L, add agricultural limestone to the water column. Continue to test hardness levels and apply limestone until you fall within 50 mg/L and 200 mg/L.

4. Use an aquatic rated pond fertilizer in the early part of spring. An algae bloom will result and act as food for invertebrates and zooplankton that, in turn, will serve as food for your young catfish. The bloom will slowly diminish and your water will clear. Drop down a secchi disk and if your clarity is greater than two feet, it's time to fertilize again.

5. Control submersed vegetation by stocking five sterile grass carp per surface acre. Acquire the necessary permit from your local fish and wildlife department.

6. Stock either or both species of blue catfish or channel catfish fingerlings in early spring since hotter temperatures can stress new fish in the pond. Light stocking density requires between 100 to 350 five-inch fish per acre. For a more sizeable population, stock 700 to 1,000 five-inch fish per surface acre.

7. Disperse a high protein fish food, up to 35 pounds per surface acre, on a daily basis while water temperatures remain above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Consider setting up an automated fish feeder to do this job; however, one is not necessary.

8. Install a surface aerator. Heavy rains, strong winds and vegetation die-offs can compromise oxygen levels in your pond and endanger your fish stock. Turn on the surface aerator if fish begin to gasp for air at the water surface to provide an oxygen-rich refuge area around the aerator.

References

• Texas Agricultural Extension Service