Also, your fish will survive not being fed if you are gone for a short time or are otherwise not able to feed. Feeding daily is not necessary and a recent commercial catfish feeding study showed an improved feed conversion ratio when fish were fed every other day. Never feed more than 15 pounds per surface acre per day because it may cause a massive fish kill due to low oxygen levels.

Large catfish do not convert feed efficiently, so it is not cost effective to feed large numbers of big catfish. Not harvesting a fed, heavily stocked catfish pond can lead to low oxygen levels and fish kills. If you feed catfish you need to harvest some to reduce the total poundage in the pond. Just fish near the feeding area while they eat. Another technique is to feed from the upwind side of the pond so the fish have plenty of time to eat before feed drifts across the pond and up on shore.Īnother benefit to feeding fish is the ease with which you can provide fish for dinner. A feeding ring or square made from four-inch plastic pipe or one-inch by six-inch lumber is convenient to keep the feed from washing up on shore and allows you to monitor feeding. Feed that sinks rather than floats is cheaper, but not if you are overfeeding (which is easy to do since the feed sinks and you can’t tell whether fish are eating it). During cool weather fish feed slower, taking slightly longer to consume their feed and eat a reduced amount. Feed only as much as they consume in about 10 minutes. It is best to use floating feed which allows you to observe fish feeding. In addition, your catfish will grow much faster on a quality feed than on a cheap one. Catfish will eat hog pellets and whole uncooked grain, but they will convert very little of it into fish flesh, and the cost per pound of grain will be higher than for quality catfish feed. If you decide to feed your catfish, you will grow more fish for your dollar by feeding a quality catfish feed rather than a cheap fish feed, hog pellets, corn or wheat. It will cost $0.25 to $0.30 per pound of fish grain to feed catfish, but those fish are worth about $1.50 per pound live weight at current supermarket prices. Feeding also is economical when one looks at the table value of catfish versus the cost of feed. A six- to eight-inch catfish fingerling can be grown to one pound in six months of regular feeding during the warm weather, whereas it will take two to three years to reach the same size in a non-fed situation. See Additional Information for suppliers of fish feeders.įeeding is the easiest way to increase catfish growth and production. Catfish can be fed with a automatic feeder, if you are unable to feed them regularly. Catfish do not have to be stocked at the higher rates when feeding is planned if you will not harvest that number of fish. Turbid (muddy) ponds generally have lower natural food production and should be stocked at lower rates. The number of catfish to stock depends on the amount of food available either in the form of natural foods, such as insect larvae and minnows, or commercial catfish feed (see Table 1 below).

Muddy ponds, those with a depth visibility less than eight inches, and small ponds, less than one-half acre, produce the most harvestable fish when stocked with channel catfish only or in combination with hybrid bluegill or fathead minnows. Catfish need to be restocked periodically since they do not reproduce consistently in ponds. Catfish can withstand fairly heavy fishing pressure and often provide quality angling both in terms of size and number.

Ponds stocked only with catfish and with food provided, will produce a higher yield of food for the table than bass-bluegill ponds. Channel catfish are an ideal fish to stock in Oklahoma ponds for food and fun.

Feeder catfish