If you aren't familiar with stream fish species or any smaller fish species, I would recommend you purchase a field guide to North American Fish... The Audubon Society and Peterson are my two favorites. One uses pictures one uses paintings to display the fish... Combine them together and you should be able to identify any fish you catch. It will really help you find species that will survive in your pond, ie bluntnose minnows, fatheads, redbellies, golden shiners etc...

I like using a 4'x4' seine with poles on each end in smaller streams. One guy mans the seine while the other guy stomps the stream pushing the fish into the net. Once the pusher reaches the net the net handler lifts up and you generally have large numbers of fish in productive waters. If legal, larger sizes make collection even better in bigger bodies of water. Minnow traps can also be effective, particularly for fatheads and bluntnose minnows...

My favorite method is using a 12'x12' seine which is the largest size legal in VA. With 2 guys, you can really load up on minnows. One guy holds the pole on one end of the seine close to the shoreline edge. The other guy walks the net out into the body of water, when he reaches the full length of the next he then turns back shoreward making a large loop. He quickly pulls the net back to shore but not so quick that the bottom of the net comes off the bottom. Once at the shore the net is pulled onto shore and sorted. If you are just looking for fish to feed hungry mouths, as long as you are careful to not accidentally introduce unwanted species you can catch thousands of minnows and place them in your pond. They may not reproduce, but its better than wasting money on fatheads from a fish farm.

Different states have different laws as to the number and type of fish you can keep. VA the state I live in for example allows you to keep unlimited numbers of golden shiners and fatheads caught from the wild but sets a limit to 50 per day for most other species. TX on the other hand allows you to keep an unlimited number of any non gamefish species. Check your state's regulations to be sure you don't violate the law.

When I was in my teens, my neighborhood had a small 1/8th acre pond. I had 7 bass in their that were literally my pets. About once a week through the warm months I would seine the local creek which was about a 1/4 mile walk away. I'd catch a couple hundred fish, most of which were not adapted to pond life, but they lived long enough to keep my bass well fed.

If there isn't a source for certain fish species you want for forage in your pond, say the lake chubsucker, you can use these methods to catch them for your pond. There are several species of forage fish which are great forage fish for ponds but are not commercially available. The two most common would be the bluntnose minnow and the lake chubsucker.

Hope this information was helpful to you and gave you some ideas for future pond management.