Record Catfish from Alissa Pond

[EddieWalker]

In the end of 2004, I dug Alissa Pond. It's 3/4 of an acre and only about 4 to five feet deep. It was dug to be an ornamental pond that looks nice as you drive up into my land. I never planned to put fish in it, but did consider putting a fountain in it. The water is brown, it's always been brown, and always will be. I did clear it up once, but it turned a nasty green almost instantly and stayed that way all summer long. It was gross, so now I leave it brown.

In April of 2006, I stocked it with channel catfish, coppernose bluegill and fathead minnows. At the time, I was told that if I fed them, they would grow faster and by the fall, I'd have one pound catfish. This turned out to be true. The following year, Steph caught several that were pushing three pounds. Last year, we also caught several more that were in the 3 pound range, but nothing over that. From seeing them while feeding them, I knew I had bigger fish in there, but we were unable to catch anything that was over 4 punds until today.

Casey is a friend and his Mom is a client of mine. He just graduated highschool last month and will be leaving for a missionary pretty soon. He called and asked if he could come out and spend the day fishing my ponds with a friend of his and his mom. When I got home, he was shaking. He was just about jumping out of his skin,he was so excited!!!! As I was walking up to where they were sitting, he yelled out across Alissa Pond that he had caught the biggest fish of his life. I turned around to and got my camera.

As you can see in the picture, it's a pretty good sized catfish. When you realize that it's just a bit over three years old, it's an amazing catfish!!! We put it on a scale and I read with my own eyes, 9 pounds.

I realize that they will grow faster with the fish food, but 9 pounds is way beyond any of my expectations. I'm in shock and disbelief, but the picture is true, as are my observations. It's just a matter of time until we break ten pounds, the only question is who will break this record?

Eddie

 

[wedge40]

Hmm 3 yrs, 9lbs.. I wouldn't be swimming in there anytime soon.
I've got the frying pan all heated up.. When do we eat?

Wedge

 

[JohnDeere4300]

He called and asked if he could come out and spend the day fishing my ponds with a friend of his and his mom.

When I got home, he was shaking. He was just about jumping out of his skin,he was so excited!!!! As I was walking up to where they were sitting, he yelled out across Alissa Pond that he had caught the biggest fish of his life.

Eddie

....I just can't stop laughing from the way you explained the way he was when you got home!!!......I'm glad he had a good time & that's a nice catfish

Did he put it back in?

That's a big fish for 3 years old....It must have been eating other fish and many other things that live in water.

Eddie there probably is one bigger than that in "Alissa pond".........How did your family act when they saw that?.......I guess they were surprised.
_________________
Do you ever see any big mud turtles in any of your ponds or in Marabou lake???

Eddie,
Last week i was mowing around my pond and i always stop & look in....Well i noticed 2 bass floating on top of the water, so i got off the tractor and got a long tree branch to get them out.

On both of the fish there was bite marks all over them....So i figured there was a big turtle in there.....I took two broom sticks & put about 10ft. of heavy duty string with hooks on them, and tied them to something so they couldn't pull them in the water.

It took two days, but i caught 2 turtles...and they were bigger than a 5 gallon bucket...I still have them set, but haven't caught anymore turtles....so i guess that was all that was in there, but i will keep a close eye on my pond.

Before i seen the dead fish, i noticed lily-pad leaves floating all around the pond...so i figured something was going on....I don't have catfish, i only have bass, crappie & bluegill.

* I just thought i would pass that on to you....and i don't know if you have those kind of turtles in Texas.

(Thanks for sharing the pictures of Casey with the catfish!!!)

 

[EddieWalker]

Wedge,

I've never had a problem with catfish while swimming in that pond. The water is kind of shallow, but if you move around in it, you'll find cool water. I don't understand it, but enjoy going in there when it's really hot out and I'm coverend in dirt or dust. The bluegill do have an annoying habbit of attacking me. They seem to find the moles on my back to be especially interesting.

Bill,

No, he kept that fish, and several others that they caught. My goal is to get rid of some of the fish in that pond. There are just too many of them in there and I'm encouraging friends and family to come over to catch all that they can. Ideally, I only want about 100 total pounds of preditor fish in there. I guess that I'm somewhere near 500 pounds. If I stoped feeding them, I would have some serious problems.

There are not turtles in Alissa Pond. Lake Marabou has half a dozen or so red ear turtles. I don't know if there are any snapping turtles in this area, but that's what I think you have in your pond. From what I've read, they can be very damaging to a pond and the fish in it. I do have beavers in there and recently while mowing have noticed new trails comeing in and out of hte pond. I've looked for tree damage from beavers, but haven't found any. The last time, they really tore up my trees. Otters are a concern, as are Nutria's. I'm hoping to catch whatever is making the trails out in the open so I at least know what is making them, but so far it's just a mystery. I have never seen a dead fish in Lake Marabou, but don't know if it's happened and I just didn't see them. I don't go there very often, but my brother is living here, and he goes for a walk around it every morning with his four labs. They love the water and he works them pretty hard with a tennis ball playing fetch. If anything was floating in there, he'd notice it.

Glad you liked the story. I'm still in shock at the size of that fish. To think that they could grow that fast in such a short time is just amazing. Steph and Alissa are both talking about trying to catch a bigger one!!!! Those two girls are the ones who take fishing seriously around here, and they were almost as excited as Casey to see that fish.

Just another great example of country living. You never know what will happen or what you will see while living out here.

Eddie

 

[Frosty2]

Here's how to cure a turtle problem.Take a piece of 2" thick foam insulation about 2 foot square.Now get a leg trap that you'd use to trap a muskrat.Wire the trap to the foam with a dead small bait fish on the trigger.Float this upside down in the water w/a line hooked up to it so you can pull it back to shore.Now go turtle fishing.I've seen this work on big snappers.

 

[wushaw]

Eddie; We have both types of snapping turtles in Texas, The common snapping turtle and the alligator snapper. Both are very onry critters and lots of respect must be given to both when thinking about handeling either.

A snape is easier.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Bill,

No, he kept that fish, and several others that they caught. My goal is to get rid of some of the fish in that pond. There are just too many of them in there and I'm encouraging friends and family to come over to catch all that they can. Ideally, I only want about 100 total pounds of preditor fish in there. I guess that I'm somewhere near 500 pounds. If I stoped feeding them, I would have some serious problems.



Glad you liked the story. I'm still in shock at the size of that fish. To think that they could grow that fast in such a short time is just amazing. Steph and Alissa are both talking about trying to catch a bigger one!!!! Those two girls are the ones who take fishing seriously around here, and they were almost as excited as Casey to see that fish.

Just another great example of country living. You never know what will happen or what you will see while living out here.

Eddie

So Casey had a fish fry.....Sounds like there will be a lot of fishing in that pond, and i know a member here that would probably want to have some catfish for dinner.

I read a post of his when he had "catfish" for dinner.....Sorry Bird

Yeah, that's a big catfish for a age of 3 years....Now that (your family) has seen a fish that big from that pond....It will make them fish harder, and there probably is a bigger fish in that pond....That fish sure was eating good.

I don't fish for catfish....I fish for bass, trout, crappie & bluegill.

*I don't know if you all have tried this, but a guy at a campground told me last year that the way to catch big "catfish".....Is to take chicken livers and soak them in red kool-aid over night.....He said the catfish love the Red Kool-Aid and he also soaks crawdads in the kool-aid.

Have you ever tried that?

 

[rcrcomputing]

Feeding the catfish is a nightly ritual here.. Enjoy...

 

[irvingj]

Hey, Eddie! One of the best-kept secrets, in my opinion (at least from a northeasterner's point of view) is farm pond fishing in the midwest.

Each time I go to wife's folks in NE MO, I hit 'em hard- loads of fun with very little fishing pressure, apparently. Lottsa 3-lb+ largemouth bass, some very big bluegills & crappie, and, yes, the occasional monster cat. And all this on my ol' cold-stream standby, a Rapala 5-G & 6-lb test line. What a blast. Yes, even a 5-lb cat! I didn't know it was possible for a cat to hit a minnow lure, but I'm here to tell you they will!

 

[Maxfli]

Guess I should go over to Pond boss and do some research. Our pond is 50 years old, 2 acre and the shallow side is silted in pretty much. So about 1/3rd is only 1' deep. On the deep side it is about 6 to 8' deep. Fishing you will catch bluegills one after another most days. 1 in 15 fish will be a largemouth normally 8 to 10", and in 5 years I got only one 2lb Largemouth. Seems like their growth is stopped. Any suggestions??? Over population???