Effects of Spawning Container Type and Placement Depth on Channel Catfish Spawning Success in Ponds

During three successive spawning seasons, spawning containers were placed at depths ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 m in a brood-fish pond stocked with channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). When dissolved oxygen levels remained above 4 mg/L, depth had no effect on spawning success. Fish, averaging as large as 4.1 kg, preferred a metal spawning container with a 16-cm-diameter opening to a metal container with a larger opening and to two types of plastic containers.