Abandoned catfish ponds can make for some outstanding duck hunting with just a little elbow grease. Here’s how to pick up mallards where channel cats once thrived.
Crouching in high grass and brush growing along a low embankment, we listened to whistling wings circling unseen above us as we counted down the minutes before legal shooting hours began. A leaden, overcast sky made the black forms hurtling past us in the gloom even more difficult to see. Occasionally, we heard something splash into the water.
“It’s time,” whispered a companion. “More birds coming in. Teal heading straight for us. Take ’em!”
Similar scenes occur every morning in marshes, swamps, lakes, rivers and flooded fields across Mississippi during waterfowl season, but some of the best duck hunting could come in unexpected places: catfish ponds.
Mississippi leads the nation in catfish production. In some years, the Magnolia State accounts for about 55% of the catfish raised in the United States. However, Mississippi catfish farmers face a host of worsening problems, such as rising fuel costs, high feed prices and increasing competition from cheaper imports. In 2001, Mississippi had 130,500 acres of catfish ponds. By 2017, it had 34,700 acres of catfish ponds, a drop of 74%. Cheaper fuel prices and a stronger economy helped create a slight uptick in pond acreage by 2019, but catfish farmers still face many hardships.
Bad news for catfish farmers means outstanding opportunities for duck hunters. When building a catfish farm, the landowner normally digs a series of shallow ponds or simply impounds natural low spots by building levees and pumping water from nearby sources. Sometimes, farmers dam streams to create ponds.
Natural progression
When landowners get out of the catfish business, they often abandon their ponds to the elements. Since the ponds are on private land, few people ever visit them or even know they exist. Over the years, the fertile pond bottoms grow up in willows, native grasses and aquatic plants, while banks grow thick with canes and brush. In fertile soil, willow trees can grow 6 to 8 feet in a year. Vegetation provides food for ducks; shoreline growth gives birds cover from raptors and other predators. Even without human enhancement, these overgrown former aquaculture endeavors can become waterfowl havens.
“We hunt many areas that were once commercial aquaculture facilities,” said Jacob Sartain of Sartain’s Heritage Properties, an avid duck hunter from Madison who buys, sells and enhances properties specifically for waterfowl hunting. “An old, fish-pond complex makes ideal waterfowl habitat. Catfish ponds can provide natural waterfowl habitat without much being done to them, but I prefer to manage them intensively.”
Some landowners hunt their own ponds or lease them to get back some of the money they invested in the properties. Sometimes, farmers sell their properties. Hunters who buy such operations can manipulate and manage them to create even better waterfowl habitat.
Most of these old aquaculture operations come with water-control systems, piping, pumps, easy access and other infrastructure that make them very attractive to someone who wants to make a waterfowl paradise. With a little habitat manipulation and repairs to existing infrastructure, a landowner can turn an old catfish farm into an incredible hunting spot.
“From a development standpoint, I’m really fond of abandoned fish ponds, because we can manipulate the habitat specifically for waterfowl,” Sartain said. “It’s much easier to manage an old catfish farm and turn it into duck habitat than flooded timber or row-crop land. It has levees with individual pond units, wells and irrigation systems already in place. Access to those places is usually very easy because of the road systems and levees. We can drive a pickup truck down the levee, unload the gear and start hunting.”
The delta factor
Most catfish production occurs in the Delta, where farmers enjoy abundant freshwater sources, rich clay soil on flat land and good growing conditions. The Delta covers nearly 7,000 square miles of the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, one of the most-critical wintering waterfowl habitats in North America. The Delta runs about 200 miles along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River and includes all or parts of 19 counties between Vicksburg and the Tennessee state line.
“The east side of the Mississippi River has some very good waterfowl hunting,” said Houston Havens, waterfowl program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “The best duck hunting in Mississippi occurs in the Delta region. It all depends upon the water conditions and how many birds came down the river. In the Delta, people kill many mallards, but they also kill a lot of gadwalls, green-winged teal and shovelers.”
Many reclaimed catfish farms in northwest Mississippi now offer sportsmen some of the best duck hunting in the nation. The former catfish ponds attract a variety of both puddle and diving ducks. The region historically holds one of the highest winter concentrations of mallards in North America, but sportsmen might spot anything that could fly through the lower Mississippi Flyway. Besides mallards, a morning bag could also include gadwalls, green-winged teal and wigeon. Sportsmen might also shoot blue-winged teal, pintails, shovelers, lesser scaup, ring-necked ducks, occasional redheads or canvasbacks and other ducks. In more-timbered areas, wood ducks comprise a large part of the harvest. In some areas, sportsmen might also get shots at passing snow, blue, Ross or specklebelly geese.
“Waterfowl hunting in the Delta is extremely good,” Sartain said. “This part of Mississippi offers very rich and diverse habitat for hunting ducks. When the Arkansas swamps freeze, a lot of ducks cross over to our side of the river. Also, when bad storms hit south Louisiana, ducks leave the coast and come up here. Our best hunting typically occurs after southwest weather fronts push ducks out of the Gulf region and up into the Delta.”
Keep cover, build blinds
Sportsmen can hunt reclaimed catfish ponds like they do any other small system. Many landowners keep some willow or brush thickets growing in the pond to provide duck cover. Some people create blinds in these thickets or simply stand among the brush and trees in waders. Cut down unnecessary brush to create open areas on the pond’s surface for landing zones and decoy spreads. Also, keep or enhance shoreline brush, canes and other vegetation for concealment.
Some hunters establish permanent pit or platform blinds along shorelines or hide in the thick, native cover. Some buy or lease several pond units and keep a portion of them idle every hunting season to serve as refuges so more waterfowl stay in an area.
During the season, scout the designated ponds to pick the best one for shooting that day. Don’t hunt any pond too frequently to avoid over-pressuring the birds. When rotating among multiple ponds, many hunters erect portable blinds in the spot with the most favorable wind that morning. Also, watch for the dominant duck species in the area at that time and toss out decoys to fit those birds. For instance, in a pond that mostly attracts gadwalls, use gadwall decoys with a smattering of other types. This gives birds a different look each day to keep them guessing. Hunters don’t want ducks to become too familiar with blind locations or see the same decoy spreads each day.
Duck pond blueprint
Before people can hunt an old catfish pond, they need to do some work. To turn an abandoned aquaculture operation into a waterfowl heaven, first repair access roads and levees. Then, repair or replace pumps, pipes and water-control structures or perform other maintenance as needed. Next, drain the old pond, thin or remove existing brush so ducks can land in open water and plant native food sources for the birds.
“Some old catfish farms turn into really good duck hunting properties,” said Tim Willis, a Ducks Unlimited biologist from Ridgeland. “They attract a lot of different species. Most of the levees and infrastructure are already in place on these properties; it’s just a matter of replacing or repairing what’s necessary and manipulating the property. If people start managing these properties for moist-soil plants, they can produce a lot of waterfowl food.”
During the spring, completely drain the ponds and plant duck foods. Check with the state to make sure your improvements are legal. Native grasses and other vegetation will also grow up. Before duck season begins, reflood the ponds to about 2 to 3 feet deep.
To convert old catfish ponds into enhanced waterfowl habitat, land managers can possibly get grants from conservation groups like DU or government agencies. Many landowners enroll their property in the Wetland Reserve Program.
Mississippi sportsmen can also get technical assistance from state wildlife biologists. The MDWFP provides free technical advice to landowners who want to enhance their properties for waterfowl and wetland management.
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