just found out that a small tank on a ranch I hunt is loaded with a decent amount of channel cat. Caught and kept around 15 all about a pound or so. I'd like to get them bigger, but I'm also not sure if they are all just that small due to overpopulation? Not sure if I should take out more fish to help this situation. Any advice would be appreciated!

Overpopulation could be an issue, but if the fish look healthy that might not be the case. When overpopulation occurs you tend to get fish with big heads and little bodies. If you want to get those fish big, I recommend a floating fish food that has at least 32% protein. There are many brands on the market but here at Pond King we carry Muenster Milling products and they make a 32% fish food pellet that works really well. One thing that you must be aware of is developing a regular feeding schedule and sticking to it. In order to get the best results we recommend a feeder that feeds the same amount at the same time every day. This gives the fish something to bank on and they learn that schedule quite quickly. If you hand feed, do so around the same time of day. Feed until they are done eating. If the food is all gone and they are still attacking the last few pellets then feed more. If they are done feeding and there are still left over pellets then feed less. If you put them on a feed then stick to it. Feeding them for a long period of time (several months) and then suddenly forgetting or neglecting to fill feeders can be bad. The fish will develop a dependency on the feed, and the sudden absence can cause their weight to suffer.

Appreciate the info! All the catfish appeared to be healthy, and maybe 1 or 2 appeared to have a little larger head than body. I believe I'll probably take some more out to help with numbers. I'll definitely check your products out and see what works best.

We had about a 1.25 acre pond with blues and channels. Fed them Purina Catfish Chow. If you do get feed try and get the floating feed rather than the kind that sinks. It brings them up and sometimes you can just drop a hook in their mouths.
For a while we were averaging 22 inch 3-4 pounders.

If you think there are too many in the pond pull a bunch out and let the others grow.

I'd need more info to make a judgment call. Can you get info from the land owner?

1. When was it stocked? They may be young fish that have recently been stocked. Ask the land owner. I'm assuming that fishing went with the hunting lease.
2. How big is the pond? Remember that the playing surface of a football field is a little less than an acre. And, it will most likely be a lot smaller by opening day of dove season.
3. Any other fish in it? Bluegills, bass, etc? Are they channels or bullheads?

Generally, a pond/tank/water hole will support about 100 channel cats per surface acre with bluegills around for forage. And, they are generally a put and take fish. They seldom pull off a successful spawn. They also wise up pretty quickly to fishing pressure.

Tractor supply has a good floating food