This should put this to rest but I am sure it wont...........
This past Saturday I spent the morning at a seminar for those of us with a Wisconsin Fish Hatchery license. I had to go just for the sake of meeting Dr Myron Kebus head of the whole program for the state of Wisconsin and one of the sharpest fish vetrinarians you could ever hope to meet. He has helped me overcome bad advice from local pond pros several times. After we were done studying livers from yellow perch which were poorly affected by feed training (really cool stuff), we discussed this at length.
The final answer from his point of view is there are 2 main ways these fish arrive. Eggs stuck to the feet of birds and eggs stuck to vegetation that is transported by birds and in unusual cases by other forms of life. They do not stick to the feathers. I am not sure what birds would transport grasses but it never ceases to amaze me the different creatures the pond attracts.
I have to tell you that asking this guy how fish get into remote ponds is like asking Alan Greenspan how you should invest your money. You may not agree with him, but he is very sharp in his field.
