wels

[Mr.Catfish]

You would have to supplement food if the wels are anything like a flathead when it comes to appetite.A friend of mine has a half acre pond that was heavily stocked with bass bluegill,and crappie.He added a 45 pound flathead and within 2 years later their was an extreme reduction of the number of fish in his pond. Now having had the flathead in his pond for 6 years their are hardly any bass left.Plus the bluegill and crappie have been reduced in numbers and size. They very seldom catch one over 4 inches. One more thing in the past 3 years the flathead has been losing weight.They catch it about twice a year and it now ways 39lbs.This is down from 47 lbs the second year it was in the pond.

 

[Wiggles92]

You would have to supplement food if the wels are anything like a flathead when it comes to appetite.A friend of mine has a half acre pond that was heavily stocked with bass bluegill,and crappie.He added a 45 pound flathead and within 2 years later their was an extreme reduction of the number of fish in his pond. Now having had the flathead in his pond for 6 years their are hardly any bass left.Plus the bluegill and crappie have been reduced in numbers and size. They very seldom catch one over 4 inches. One more thing in the past 3 years the flathead has been losing weight.They catch it about twice a year and it now ways 39lbs.This is down from 47 lbs the second year it was in the pond.

Interesting. My flathead hasn't really affected the number of fishes in my pond; I still have a bunch of smallmouth bass, saugeye, and bluegill plus a few other catfish and a carp. Of course then, I seem to have a problem with having too many sunfish, so maybe it will help with that.

 

[critter_bob]

Wels have already proven to be invasive. They have cause major damage to native fisheries in Spain, and other locations in Europe.