If anyone could let me know, either here, by PM, or E-mail, if they have had any experience with these guys out of Arkansas, I would appreciate it. They are coming to town tomorrow and I would like to get some fish.

Thanks,
Shawn

Shawn I don't know the name so I can't help much. Ark has lots of hatcheries and fish sellers. Some are very good and some very bad including criminal conduct.

A few things which may help.
Ask what hatchery they came from.
Ask how long they have been on the truck.
Ask what the fish are and get it in writing.
Ask if there is a guaranty on them staying alive until you can get them in the pond.
If you get BG be sure they are BG not HBG. Ask them to be sure.
Examine the fish closely to look for rough treatment.
If they seem evasive or lie or things don't sound right then don't take the fish. You can get good hatcheries to FedEx small fish overnight as an option.

Shawn, because nobody has chimed in yet...I have no knowledge of these guys, but at the very least, with all that you know about ponds, I say trust your judgement.

After someone finds Pond Boss, it's hard for a scammer fish supplier to get over.

If you go for it, take some pics.

Thanks ewest.

I saw an ad in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The free fish guy is still going. Ya'll be careful.

Shawn, in addition to the advice from Ewest, I would always call the "fish farm" and ask questions about when the truck left Arkansas and what their route is. If you're at the end of the circuit, I would pass.

Ditto - know the hatchery and reputation or take a pass.

If they pull up in this rig, you should be OK
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Thanks for the info, all good questions to ask, I will follow up. Mainly I want channel cat, but if I can get a good look at them, I was going to get some red-ears and bluegill as well. I'll see if I can pry my wife's camera away from here and take some pictures of the process. Thanks again all.

BTW, how do I get the "I Subscribe" tag on my signature?

Assuming you subscribe, copy from:

Well, I went ahead and got fish. The fish appear relatively healthy and appear to be of the type and amount requested. I bought 200 RES, 300 BG, 300 CC, and 4 GC, as well as 5 lb of FHM.

Here are some pics:

The Truck had two big oxygen bottles on the back

BG

RES


CC - a bit disappointed they didn't look more "filled out" but they were lively.


FHM



They loaded from tanks to net to 5 gallon bucket to my bag, then filled with oxygen. No floaters except with the Ruby Reds, and then only a few at first. I can't say my handling was the best, but in my opinion, acceptable loss for something that will be a snack anyways. My only real heartburn was this minnow I found. Appears to have a bad case of worms. Right now it sits in a bowl on my kitchen countertop, not in my pond.



I even got one albino CC in the mix. I'll head down to the pond tonight to see if I have a bunch of floaters or not. Thanks for the tips, we shall see if they work out.

(don't let james holt see this thread)

I'll try to hide it from him!

Well, me and the boy went for a walk around the ponds yesterday after work and saw schools of FHM swimming around, so they at least made it through a few hours.

Boy, not only are they slow, those Rosy Red's are like a neon orange, like they weren't handicapped enough!

Just an opinion, but I'll bet that those CC's will fill out very rapidly. The fact that they were lively is of the most importance.

Thanks a lot for the pictures. That RES picture is probably a good one for the Pond Boss archives. Really good detail.

Thanks, Bruce. My wife has a great macro lens she uses in her dental practice, she let me borrow it for the pictures.

Is there a need for more pictures like this? I could certainly get into that project.

Hopefully we can get ewests attention on this, because he has been really good at collecting photos showing differences in various lepomis species. That redear pic that you just provided is the best detail I've seen yet.

Those dentists have all the fun toys don't they?

Bruce you raised my attention. Shawn we can always use good pics. Those RR FH ones are very good. The jar one has most all angles of a FH in one pic. We do have to remember that once posted the poster has to be sure they don't delete them from the photobucket account.
Bruce I suggest that we start a separate thread in the archives by type (like your existing Sunfish , Catfish , ect ones) that are just pics of those species - like one thread for lepomis. It should contain pics or links to pics or very limited text on how to ID. What do you guys think ? I will help locate the existing pics if you start the threads. Anyone who has a pic to add post a note here.

I like the idea.

Do you mean something like a thread title of

"Bluegill pictures"? Then we would sort of judge them to make sure we're all in complete agreement that the pictures are representative of the species in the title?

i like the idea.

eric, let me see what i can find linking back to some of my earlier threads, i have relatively good close-ups of RES, BG, and GSF .....and GSF and BG of different ages.....which you may find useful...i did restore some of the broken links i inadvertantly made when i subdivided my photobucket account a while back.


edited post...
eric, will send you a pm w/ pic links..

Yes Bruce that is what I had in mind. I do think we should put all lepomis in one thread each species with a seperate post. It would make for easier comparison. Title of the thread may be BG - RES - GSF- & other lepomis pics.

I believe there is actually a plugin/addon for ubbthreads (the forum software that runs this whole thing) that allows uploading pics to the server rather than just linking them to another site, photobank, etc. In fact, I remember way back years ago (around 1997 or so) when the developers were talking about making it part of the core, so it may already be built in now. For the sake of long term integrity of posts with pics, it would be a great idea to put this into place. The bottom line is people delete accounts, switch hosts, change image locations, etc. Since the server is now a dedicated one, storage space shouldn't be a major issue, and I think the benefits likely outweigh the additional bandwidth load associated with hosting the pics locally.

Just a thought.

Thanks I will pass this on to Bob as it would be an improvement.

For some reason she won't let me use her intraoral camera to help remove swallowed hooks!

So help out the beginning photo-geek. What is critical to a good "fish pic"? A flat pic like the RES, or more angles like the FHM? I think it would be easy to build / buy a 'CSI' reference tape for size comparison. What else are we looking for?

For identification purposes, a large, clear, sharp shot against a background giving good contrast is essential.

For bragging purposes, acquire either a centimeter scale (which you then claim is in inches) or arms like Condellos.

I am unqualified to give advice on taking pictures with any kind of aesthetic quality. However, I think your multiple rosy-red picture is nice in that regard.

Thanks! I just worry about all that great info that uses pictures to illustate the idea/observation disappearing down the road. Too much good stuff here to lose.

Looks like I am a little late on this thread. Tommy's comes through my neck of the woods all the time. I bought fish (CC & FHM) from them last year and they did great. Lost very few CC and they grew pretty fast. The FHM got pretty much cleaned out by the LMB but luckily I put some of them in my wife's goldfish pond. As long as she doesn't catch me dipping them out she won't know where I get my live bait.

Well Jeff Walker, seeing as you've been with us for about a year and a half, better late than never for your first post!

Well now that I've been called out I was to busy reading and trying to absorb all this info before I felt I had anything new to contribute. Joined the same time I bought the property with the farm and the ideas you guys have given me has kept me busy all year.

A big welcome to Jeff Walker!

Badda-bing...Illinois steps up the ranks. Keep 'em comin' Jeff! I wanted so much to look for property in S Ill, but the distance would'a kilt me.

Brettski,
Where about in Il are you? My pond is always open if your ever down to the bottom of the state. Plus I live in the Deer capital of Illinois and the National forest is in my back yard. What more could a guy ask for and not have to show proof of age?

I actually was born and raised in Peoria, and spent many summers in Simpson, IL. Our family had a farm down there where we had family reunions all the time. I even got stitches at the Marion Hospital.

Simpson, no kidding? Then you might now where Trigg Tower is. I live about 10 miles North of Simpson. Small world.

Is that the old fire watch tower? Yes, I have been to Trigg Tower, I'm pretty sure it overlooked the farm.

If you know the place, you might know the family. Mansel and Gertrude Owen were my mother's uncle and aunt. Richard Owen is a cousin, his daughter JJ was killed several years ago in a car wreck, she used to work at the golf course not far away.

Yes indeed, it is a small world!