Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) and Edwardsiella ictaluri (ESC) are two of the most prevalent pathogenic bacteria in west Alabama commercial catfish aquaculture and are responsible for chronic bacterial outbreaks. To further understand chronic vAh and ESC pathogenesis, investigating the ability of these bacteria to persist in the bottom sediments is paramount. Sediments from four ponds were collected at six points and combined to form a single composite sample, and used for persistence trials. Firstly, 600 g of each composite sample was autoclaved thrice for 60 minutes to ensure sterilization. Alkalinity, soil organic matter content, prevalent cation concentrations, pH, and cation exchange capacity were measured both before and after autoclaving for all four sediments. The vAh isolate (ML-09-119) and the ESC isolate (S97-773) were cultured in tryptic soy broth (TSB) for 24 h, and brain-heart infusion broth (BHI) for 48 h respectively, non-concurrently at 28oC. After incubation, each bacterial culture was centrifuged and resuspended in 1.0 X pH-adjusted PBS to an optical density of 0.2 at 550 nm. This resulted in inoculum concentrations of 8.67 ± 0.65x107 CFU/mL and 6.4 ± 0.73x107 CFU/mL (Mean ± SE) for the vAh and ESC trials, respectively. A combination of 200 g of sterilized sediment, 20 mL of bacterial inoculum, and 500 mL of sterile dechlorinated city water were mixed thoroughly for 60 minutes. The sediment treatments were housed in three 37 L glass aquaria, each separated into four chambers, using glass dividers sealed with aquarium silicone. Then, the total chamber volume was increased to 8 L of dechlorinated water, aerated for alternating cycles (12 h on:12 h off) to simulate a production pond, and maintained at 28 and 25oC for the vAh and ESC trials, respectively. Water alkalinity, hardness, pH, phosphorus, TAN, NO2-, and NO3- concentrations were measured weekly. Bacterial enumeration was conducted by first centrifuging 1 g of extracted sediment, resuspending the pellet in 0.1 X PBS, conducting seven 10-fold serial dilutions in a 96 well plate, then plating diluted inoculum onto ampicillin dextrin agar and E. ictaluri medium for the vAh and ESC trials respectively. Agar plates were incubated at 28oC for 16 hours in both trials. In a pilot persistence trial, vAh colonies were still viable after 113 days post inoculation despite an over 95% decrease in the initial CFU/g population. In the vAh trail, colonies were identified via PCR confirmation, and the 95% population decreased occurred by 28 days post inoculation. Additionally, a background population of Psuedomonas spp. began appearing in one of the sediment types at 48 hrs post inoculation. In the ESC trial, CFU/g of positive colony population decreased below 95% 14 days post inoculation. One of sediment types was acquired from a recently renovated pond, with a sediment pH of 4.98. This low soil pH caused a rapid decrease in CFU/g of vAh and ESC when inoculated into that specific sediment. Future research on virulence, gene expression, and interactions between pathogenic and primary successional soil bacteria are necessary to understand specific mechanisms and strategies which allow vAh and ESC to persist and how soil chemical properties can influence pathogenic bacteria in pond bottoms.