[jackthomilson]

Can anyone be able to tell how old this Channel cat is and if it was ready to die of old age? I have lots of these in my Missouri 2 acre farm pond and I’m concerned if they’ll all be dead soon of old age. If so I’d need to harvest them up. I’m guessing it weighs at least 10 pounds and they’re all this size and many too. Thanks!

 

[Keith Mette]

Here ya go, good luck.
How to Age Catfish - Gone Outdoors
https://goneoutdoors.com › age-catfish-8552556

 

[eldwva]

I dunno ...wonder if a state fisheries agent could come out and see ..For some reason I'm think pond fish bought as 8 inches tend yo die off at a certain age ... Is be interested to learn what they say . Might be pond variables too .let us know what you find out .

 

[Jbuck]

When I built my first pond I had a state fish biologist develop a stocking plan. I don't recall the numbers but at the time (23 years ago) he advised to re-stock the channels at a certain rate of so many fish every so many years so apparently they do die off. I had always heard that channels would not reproduce in a pond, the biologist said his education and experience indicated they do indeed reproduce but for some reason the fry are so suspectable to predator fish the survival rate is likely to be less than 1% in a pond the size of mine (2 acer). I don't know if he was correct but I have caught some 6-10 inch fish twenty years after stocking it.
Keep us informed of any information you come up with.

 

[jackthomilson]

I know the pond was man made in about 1989ish around there. So these catfish have to be old. Pond has a penensila with one end deeper with shallower ends on each side of the deeper end. It also has an overfill pipe that drains into a very small creek when it gets high from rain fall on one in halfway between the pond split like 50/50. Topwater vegetation is getting bad over half the pond I tried clipper herbicide and it just grew back. It’s obviously a great pond for growing fish though naturally.

 

[eldwva]

What kind of topwater vegitatative growth ?

 

[jackthomilson]

What kind of topwater vegitatative growth ?

Out of control moss

 

[eldwva]

If Tripoloid ( sp).grass .carp..are in the budget might solve the problem naturally as opposed to chemical treatment . My x father in law also made some sort of floating " drag" out of a pallet and pulled it through pond repeatively with his tractor ...couple ideas .

 

[jackthomilson]

If Tripoloid ( sp).grass .carp..are in the budget might solve the problem naturally as opposed to chemical treatment . My x father in law also made some sort of floating " drag" out of a pallet and pulled it through pond repeatively with his tractor ...couple ideas .

I heard to use an old spring bed mattress chained to a tractor. I should try something soon.

 

[Jbuck]

I too struggle with pond alga and weeds in all three of my ponds. I have introduced grass carp, tried chemicals, and dyeing the water a deep blue. The dye seemed to work well for submerged weeds, I think the theory is the blue filters out the suns rays necessary for growth but it is not cheap, I had the best luck with the packets not liquid. I rigged up a rake using a piece of 2" pipe about 14 ft. long suspended on chains from boom poles attached to the front bucket of my tractor giving me 12 ft. or so of reach past the front wheels. I welded 10" sucker rod pieces on the pipe as teeth. It worked but keeping the boomers attaching it to the bucket tight was a hassle and the moss and weeds did not just fall off as I had hoped. Someone with better fabrication skills than me (which would be almost everyone) could likely rig up a better attachment method. Good Luck with it, unfortunately if your experience is like mine it is a yearly struggle.

 

[jackthomilson]

I too struggle with pond alga and weeds in all three of my ponds. I have introduced grass carp, tried chemicals, and dyeing the water a deep blue. The dye seemed to work well for submerged weeds, I think the theory is the blue filters out the suns rays necessary for growth but it is not cheap, I had the best luck with the packets not liquid. I rigged up a rake using a piece of 2" pipe about 14 ft. long suspended on chains from boom poles attached to the front bucket of my tractor giving me 12 ft. or so of reach past the front wheels. I welded 10" sucker rod pieces on the pipe as teeth. It worked but keeping the boomers attaching it to the bucket tight was a hassle and the moss and weeds did not just fall off as I had hoped. Someone with better fabrication skills than me (which would be almost everyone) could likely rig up a better attachment method. Good Luck with it, unfortunately if your experience is like mine it is a yearly struggle.

Thank You!

 

[eldwva]

The pallet contraption worked pretty good for floating vegetation . Grass Carp reach a point when big they dont eat as much ..I know a " clear pond ...lets light penetrate ..muddy ponds don't...Alot of cattle ponds stay pretty muddy thus less vegitatative growth . So it all depends on what you want out of your pond most ...just some thoughts .Years ago I tried to give my x father in law some advice based on what I studied on ponds ..His pond is almost crystal clear ( which he wants ) to much vegitative growth IMO) .Has some good bass and gills in it though ..Sometimes its hard to get exactly what you are desiring ..One last tid bit I had learned is every pound of bass you remove from a well balanced lake remove 5 lbs of bluegill I forget what acreage was ...Theres a wealth of info out there by more experienced people than I ..that's my ( help lol) of the day .tight lines !!!

 

[jackthomilson]

The pallet contraption worked pretty good for floating vegetation . Grass Carp reach a point when big they dont eat as much ..I know a " clear pond ...lets light penetrate ..muddy ponds don't...Alot of cattle ponds stay pretty muddy thus less vegitatative growth . So it all depends on what you want out of your pond most ...just some thoughts .Years ago I tried to give my x father in law some advice based on what I studied on ponds ..His pond is almost crystal clear ( which he wants ) to much vegitative growth IMO) .Has some good bass and gills in it though ..Sometimes its hard to get exactly what you are desiring ..One last tid bit I had learned is every pound of bass you remove from a well balanced lake remove 5 lbs of bluegill I forget what acreage was ...Theres a wealth of info out there by more experienced people than I ..that's my ( help lol) of the day .tight lines !!!

Farm has cattle but we keep them fenced out of the pond. Makes the pond not sanitary i think.

 

[eldwva]

You are right ..but if cattle fields are above pond and slopes to pond you still have some of that but....I do get your point .. I dunno how to test pond if there are home tests in charts but I do measures in parts by ---x-- .That being said another alternative may be to add regular carp to keep things muddied up about to kill more vegetation .I have seen muddy ponds that are completely devoid of vegetation.Just some alternatives to chemicals is options I feel good about sharing .Do you lime your pond ? I know that will make it clearer as well .It may be necessary to reduce acidic run off if you have trees close to it and leaves get in it . jist so.e more thoughts if they help lol

 

[jackthomilson]

No, the way the land is designed it had waves all throughout the pasture so when it rains it just pools up in the pasture like and it flows the other way away from the pond into a different little drainage creek that leads to the other creek that’s too low to ever reach the pond either. It’s a great design for a cattle farm and clean pond also.

 

[jackthomilson]

No, the way the land is designed it had waves all throughout the pasture so when it rains it just pools up in the pasture like and it flows the other way away from the pond into a different little drainage creek that leads to the other creek that’s too low to ever reach the pond either. It’s a great design for a cattle farm and clean pond also.

The pond is on the west end the over flow from rain either pools up in the pastures inbetween each wave formed in the pasture or drains to the south end into a small creek. The rain water never reaches the pond from the cow pasture. No way possible.