Hi TFF,
There is a pond on my dad's ranch that has had fish at two different times in the past (cats and perch i believe) before he owned it but each time the well or maybe pond "turned over" and they died. I have no idea how deep it is but will include some pictures of it.
My plan is to stock it with catfish and crappie at least. I would really like to put bass in there so I can practice my lures but a different previous pond my dad had owned the guy that stocked it had advised him not to put bass bc they will "ruin" the pond so now he says he doesnt want them.

So I came here asking which catfish you recommend for taste etc and what other fish ya'll recommend I put in there.
I want frickin' bass!

Thanks

How large is the pond? Ponds about 1 acre and above are easier to manage for LMB.

If you want bass, put bass in there. The main thing to be concerned about is removing all the small bass so that others can grow to larger sizes.

Channel cats would be preferred over blue cat and yellow (flat head) cats. Blues and yellows are voracious predators that can just about wipe out the other species.

There is considerable discussion regarding crappie in ponds: for and against. I am in the against crowd. They often overcrowd, stunt, and take over a small pond. State biologists do not recommend stocking crappie in ponds less than 10 acres.

ML said it. How large is the pond? That is a huge difference maker.

[img]http://postimg.org/image/qq91dtqqp/[/img]

Here is the pond.
Thats the dock in the bottom left hand corner.
The bottom width of water measures about 150 ft
The right side measures a little over 300 ft.
Definitely not the biggest and I am not real sure how deep it is.
Thanks

That'd be a great catfish hole.

I don't understand how bass would "ruin" a pond though. Bass are a critical variable in the pond balance equation.

I'd advise that you will be disappointed with your crappie performance in that pond unless you stock hybrid or triploid crappie; OR stock normal diploid crappie and overstock it with bass. Crappie often overpopulate small ponds and never reach good eating size. But, I have heard of ponds that were way overstocked with bass that had good sized crappie. If there are enough bass to gobble up the crappie fry/fingerlings when they have a "boom" spawn year, the crappie numbers stay low enough that the remaining crappie can continue to grow.

Channel catfish are easy. Just throw them in, let them grow, fish them out. They won't reproduce much so it's a put-and-take fishery. Bass and bluegill aren't difficult, you just have to keep an eye on the condition of the bass and adjust harvest rates if they start getting too skinny or too difficult to catch. If you don't take bass out, they'll get skinny and numerous. This is fun if you just want to catch fish, but you may never catch one over 2 lbs if you let it get to that point.

BigWhey, you have approx. an acre which gives you some options depending on what you want. You can do the traditional bass/bluegills but, after the 2nd or 3rd year, you have to start working hard to cull bass. If you don't, you will soon have the typical bass heavy pond with a bunch of runt bass and a shortage of small and medium size bluegills. In other words, out of balance and hard to fix.

I'm no longer a catfish fan since they can get so darn hookshy after they get 3 or so years old. They are fun to watch feed but that's about all.

My favorite combo for your world is hybrid bluegills and hybrid stripers with a feeder. The only downside is that summer water temps are tough on the stripers when you catch them. But, you can always restock with 8 to 10 inch hybrids as you catch them.

I would also use oxygen.