Ive got a 2 acre pond that was dug sometime back in the 60's and stocked with channel cat shortly after. Now heres the kicker, Ive fished this pond now for 5 years and cought nothing but bluegill, and bass. No catfish. I talked to the old man before he passed and he said he didnt put anything but catfish in, never bass or bluegill. Also said that nobody else fished the pond and if he cought them on his property he would have shot them. So that rules out someone else putting them in. So my question is where did the bass and bluegill come from, and where did the catfish go? He said the last time he fooled with the place was back in the 80s and it was full of catfish then. Kinda wondering if the old fart was senile or something. I enjoy catching the bass and bluegill, just kinda got me curious I guess.

Sounds like one of those TWILIGHT ZONE mysteries!!

Ive come to the conclusion the old mans cheese had slid off his cracker.

Here's a good possibility to explain the catfish...they probably all died of old age. Its pretty rare to get cats to spawn in a small pond. They are cavity spawners and not many ponds have what they need. Hence, with no spawning to replace lost fish, they just exired...no senility.

The bass and bluegills...well could be any of a number of possibilities...people are usually #1, overflows from nearby water systems also possible, and birds another. Some say birds transport fish eggs on their feet/legs and that may be true but for sure I've seen them carry fish off and then drop them.

Transport mechanisms are interesting. In my area of East Texas, just about every water hole has Gambusia minnows in it. How do they get there?

Now were talkin, I also remember hearing once in a biology class that fish eggs can also be transported through evaporation and released in a good rain. But, I doubted that theory. I guess it is possible.

Hey meadowlark, thats similar to my deer lease pond situation.An old man that lives down the road is said to have put a few crappie sunfish, bass and cats in the small pond i was tellin u about.He said it was 15 years ago.Ive been there ten yrs and fish the heck out of it and never caught a cat.This pond is so small it blows my mind that theres so many fish in it.I havent seen a fish yet that looks sick.I always check the mouths to see if they been caught before but never see evidence of being caught, i did notice the bass were all about 1.5 lbs or smaller.Except for a 3.6 and last years 5 pounder that i caught.Boy that was one lethargic fish.The others fight like hell.My guess is they are gettin a healthy supply of bugs,snakes,frogs,lizards and eachother for this pond to thrive like this.Whats also weird is that the bass have smaller mouths than the bass that i catch other places and the sunfish have bigger mouths than ive ever seen.I catch all 3 species with a weightless baby brushhog!! ps u can almost cast across this pond!!its about the size of a lil league baseball infield

Yes, sounds about right...one or two big bass and the rest mostly 1 to 2 pounds. Sounds like you may have green sunfish? They have large mouths and are very aggressive feeders. The bass are most likely native (northern) strain. Small ponds can be a bunch of fun!

i fish tanks that have never been stocked and catch plenty of good bass and all kinds of other fish! just cuz u didnt put it in there doesnt mean they wont get in!!!! we have small ponds that are dry right now, next time it rains and a few months later, ill be able to catch blue gill all day long!!!! it just happens, i was once told that ducks and other such birds will get the eggs stuck to their feet, then fly to a nearby pond and the eggs will come off, somehow survive and grow into a population, i guess its a possibility!

I dunno about the whole evaporation theory, but a good rain can transport alot of things down feeder creeks.

I was told this too a couple of years ago by my chemistry teacher. I tried to argue this in another post and everyone acted like a i was stupid so i just gave up.

Birds are the transport mechanism.

....well i was gonna add to this post but that last sig got my attention for a while...good stuff

oh ya...ive heard of the bird leg transportion thing and as far as i can see that would be my only guess...

Yup sounds like you have an over stock issue!! I friend of mines pond is just like that!! Every cast you catch a .5-1.5 lb fish and every great once in a while you catch a 3 or 4!! There are so many fish in there that they cant really grow!! So if the fish are healthy pic a few of them out each time to throw in the pan!! It will start weeding them out and the can start to grow a little!! JMO!!

I don't buy the bird transport angle. I once killed a duck and tried to get bluegill eggs to stick to it. It didn't work.

If eggs were transported to a new body of water, they would not be protected, fanned and oxygenated and more than likely covered with silt. Then, predators like pond bugs would eat them.

I would rather bet on the lottery but then, somebody always beats the millions to one odds on that.

I prefer to bet on hatchery mistakes, friends, overflows, etc.