I have a question about catfish in farm ponds and small lakes around 5 acres. Do the cats spawn in these waters the same way they do in large lakes? I have heard they will not spawn unless there is a moving current such as a creek channel or something. I want to learn to catch catfish at Faulkner Park pond in South Tyler and need advice on how to learn the pattern of the cats in that type of small lake. Thank you for any help and advise.

They will spawn but need a place to make a nest. Old sunken 30 gal barrel, large pieces of pipe 12" dia. or bigger, hollow logs etc. Even a 5gal bucket with half the lid cut out. Big brush piles for the fry to hide in.
Bait you a spot with 20% protein range cubes. Make you some chum. Chum the spot and fish with dip bait or punch bait.

Catfish wont spawn in small bodies of water. Now what they will say is use like Muzzlebrake said anything the can nest in and you should point the open hole to the bank and they might or can. Call the Athens fish hatchery they will give you info. But what I learned from them is they wont spawn. But you never know.

I really don't think we ever had any luck with channel cat spawning in our pond at the farm but the mudcats sure don't seem to have a problem, lol. You can see schools of the fry (2"-3") long cruising around at times.

You can get them to spawn,but after the spawn and after the eggs hatch now you have the fry the baby catfish are subject to actack from perch/ bluegill and the list goes on.

Tertop is right, and the eggs are susceptable to sunfish predation also. Even in small city lakes (100 acres or so) you often have to stock sub-adult channel cats to maintain a fishery. Milk cans (worth more as antiques now) and 18" concrete pipe with one end plugged are for large flatheads to nest in. They will defend the opening from sunfish. Channel cats like to spawn along the rip-rap on dams. If I wanted to have CCats in a small body of water, and money was no object, rip rap a shoreline.

The meanest fish you will ever try to noodle is a 3 lb male channel guarding it's nest. Those danged things will bite you everywhere and multiple times and shake like a dog.

Everything I have ever read about catfish in Texas is that they are prolific and extremely successful spawners. My grandfather had a small pond, maybe a 1/4-1/3 of an acre, it was a simple dish/bowl shape, no running water and no structure what so ever. We stocked it with shad and perch from a local lake and put a dozen catfish also from a local lake in it and the catfish successfully spawned in it.

Thanks for all the information. I think I will probly use range cubes to bait an area and fish over top of it.