Dropped 500 catfish fingerlings in our pond down in south Fairhope yesterday - gonna be a heck of a fish fry in about 2-3 years HOPEFULLY! As long as we can keep the otters at bay 🦦

NICE. WHERE did u get them?

Alabama fish and pond - they did a “fish day” at Robertsdale feed store where you reserve your fish and pay when you pick up

Depending on the strain you got and the food they have may be sooner. Dispose the otters for sure

I would think you'd be having a fish fry by next summer, but I'm no catfishologist

Feed them properly and it won't take that long

My dad used to grow a crop out every year when he was in the commercial business. They should average a pound or so in one year if you are feeding all they can eat.

You probably won't be feeding that intensively, so yours will likely take longer. Do you have other fish in the pond, like bass? My father also grew his own fingerlings in another pond, and I would help him sell the excess. I'd take orders and then deliver them. A lot of folks would want 500 to 1000 to add to a bass/bream pond. I would pour the fingerlings out of the bucket into their pond and bass would start eating them immediately. I don't think many survived in those situations.

You definitely want to control the otters as the fish get bigger. My dad was in a constant war with them. He kept a line of conibears out below the dam at all times, and any that dared to swim around in daylight was gonna get shot at with a 30-06. The traps caught many otters, but I don't think the rifle connected on many. It made him feel better to shoot at them.

Good luck with your catfish.

I got got “channel catfish” and they have some small dark spots on them… not sure about the “strain” other than that… I’m feeding 2 times daily (one at 6am and another at 6pm) for 8 seconds each time. A mix of floating and sinking food…

We do have some bream - blue gill, sun perch and probably some shell crackers too. All the bass are probably gone out of there now. There was some 20” plus bass in there but I have not seen them in 4 or 5 years so I’m assuming they’re eaten by predators or someone caught them. It is a 2 acre pond and you can only easily access about a third of it so who knows.

Poorcountrypreacher - I enjoyed reading about you and your dads history with the fish! My grandfather is the one that started us fishing these ponds and he always stocked them without us ever really knowing. We had a great childhood in large part to him doing all that and I hope to do the same for my kids, nieces & nephews. I had my kids and my nephew with me when we released these fingerlings and “sorta interested” for at least a few minutes 😂

Hope you don’t have bass in the pond. If so, very few if any will survive

If it's that grown up around the edges, the otters will wreck havoc before you know they are there. Be really watchful for trails of any kind crossing the dam. A forestry mulcher to clean up around the perimeter would be a great idea.

Yup - the dam where they would come from is clear and easily accessible. The otters are my main concern right now