John Boat

Ok, Within the last 2 yrs I have acquired a pond (in S. Oklahoma) that has been in the family since 1976. It's a 15 acre pond with natural structure (lots of standing timber), averaging about 8-10 ft deep with the deepest end being around 25-30ft near the d**n. There are plenty of bass, crappie and bluegill, but no catfish. I can consistently catch a dozen bass in a matter of a few hours with most fish being over 3 lbs and the biggest around 9lbs. I've tried fishing for catfish dozens of times with absolutely no luck. I've even run a few trot lines, nothing. I know the pond was originally stocked with catfish (channel and flathead) as well as the other fish. Catfish in the 20lb range were not uncommon in this pond, and even as recent as the late 1990's. The pond didn't have any maintenance for about 5 yrs so we're not sure who was fishing it and what they pulled out. My question is........ is it possible to completely fish out all the catfish in a pond of that size?? Is it possible all the bass ate them?? It seems strange to me to think that all the catfish are gone.

Thanks for all the info guys, appreciate it!

I own a 12 acre pond and I'm wanting to do some pond management to keep it in good shape. I downloaded a Fishing Log to track the number of fish I catch, the weight, length, weather, lure, etc, etc. The fishing log recommends punching a hole in the tail of the caught fish with a paper hole punch, to "tag" the fish and determine how often i'm re-catching the same fish. Has anyone ever heard of using this method? I tried to find some information about this online but wasn't too successful. Before I start punching holes in my fish, I thought I'd throw it out there to see what you think.

I don't use scents too often but when i do, i generally take a handful of plastics out the night before and put them in a zip-loc bag and spray some scent in the bag to soak overnight. Not really sure if that helps or hurts. I catch fish at the same rate, with or without scents....

I'm definitely a sunflower seed and jerky kind of guy. I like stuff that doesn't go bad when it gets hot and if I leave it in the boat, it will be good for a couple weeks. Seeds and jerky with some sweet tea or water, and I could be gone for days! lol

Count me in. Sounds like the perfect challenge!

Thanks for all the good information guys, I really appreciate it! I'll take your advice Fish and see if i can get a 3lb crappie out of there!

I've got a private 10-12 acre pond (in Oklahoma) that i've only been fishing for about a year. The pond was built in the late 70's and was stocked with bass at the time. Most of the pond is about 5-15 ft deep with the deepest area off the dam being about 30-35 feet with stained to muddy water. It is completely covered with old stumps and standing dead trees. The fishing here has been amazing. I've caught TONS of bass in the 4-6 lb range and several over 7 lbs. The Crappie i've been catching are big too, averging 12-14 inches length and 2 lbs. I've been releasing all the fish I catch. My question is, should I keep some of the bigger fish or should I keep releasing them? Every weekend I catch at least a half dozen 4-6 lb bass (and lots in the 1-3 lb range) and several big 2 lb crappie. I'd like to keep it this way but I'm concerned that there may be too many fish for the pond. All the fish have great color and give a good fight so i'm assuming they are very healthy. Can a pond have too many big fish or am I just getting lucky all the time?