Every year, fisheries biologists transport catfish from the Snake River to community ponds around Southwest Idaho.
This year, they captured and transported nearly 150 catfish between July 6-10 and stocked them into Hoseshoe Bend Mill Pond, Sawyers Pond, Ed's Pond, Kleiner Pond, McDevitt Pond, Riverside Pond, and Parkcenter Pond.
Both flathead catfish and channel catfish were among the fish stocked in July, and should provide a fun and close-to-home fishing opportunity for many anglers in Southwest Idaho. A worm on a sinker laying on the bottom of the pond should be all you need to hook into one.
On average, the channel catfish measured about 20 inches and weighed between 5-10 pounds, and the flatheads can get even larger. A couple of community ponds received catfish that tipped the scales at more than 25 pounds.
Fish and Game stocks trout in most community ponds in the Treasure Valley, and many have bass and bluegills populations, but catfish provide an opportunity to catch a larger fish than those ponds will typically produce. Catfish are long-lived fish and can grow to large sizes, but typically can not successfully spawn in ponds.
Fish and Game crews have surveyed the Snake River in the past and found low-to-moderate angler harvest and high production of catfish, so there's ample amounts of fish to transplant some without affecting the river's overall population and reducing catch rates.
To find out how to locate and access the recently stocked ponds, follow the links above. And to learn other places where catfish have been stocked in the past, see the Fish Stocking webpage.
