Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations I Think the Hatchery Man Screwed Me....

Two years ago when I acquired my 3/4 acre fish-less pond, I stocked fatheads purchased off a truck from Arkansas in the summer and then bluegills from a local hatchery in the fall. I told the local guy I wanted purebred bluegills based on all the advice given here. He tried to talk me into Hybrid bluegills but I insisted on purebreds. Most of the 375 fish he sold me were tiny but he did throw in a few that went maybe 3-4 inches. I confirmed they were bluegills. He told me he added a few redears to the mix too.

Fast forward to this year and some of the bluegills are of catchable size. That's the good news. The bad news is there seems to be plenty of green sunfish! I have LMB stocked also and the management plan has always been to have a few 4-5 lb LMB in the pond with several in the 12-15 inch range. I really don't want anything competing with the bass.

My pond is in a very private area on a hilltop far, in elevation, from the nearest stream or other ponds. It's never been fished so if the green sunfish didn't come from the original stocking then they came via the proverbial 'stocking bird'.

I'm sure the hatchery guy will deny giving me fish I didn't want. I don't want to start over because the bass are doing well and I really can't afford to start over. Looks like I will never buy from that guy again and will be tossing a lot of fish on the bank!

Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them - maybe you met one.

Remember Bob Lusk's story of the Green Sunfish pond on the ex-Turkey Farm (they managed it back to LMB & BG in 4-5 years!) and keep your chin up.

I have bought fish from two different hatcheries. Last spring I had delivered bg, re, cc, and fh minnows from Aqua Control. During the summer I sained a shallow area and found two crappie about the same size as the bg. Last fall I observed 6 crappie in a different shallow area. Also in the fall I purchased largemouth bass from Van Winkle's hatchery off a truck at a local feed store. When I got to the pond to release them, I found 5 bg mixed in with the bass. Last week I caught a couple of hybrid bg that I did not want stocked. So did you get your fish from one of these hatcheries?

No, the so-called bluegills came from a different supplier than the ones you mentioned. I did buy my bass from Van Winkle's but I know they were all bass because I bought so few of them and they all looked alike.

I always try to allow for extra time to sort or examine the fish that I buy from a hatchery. OR I watch them count the fish into a bag/bucket. I have seen too many hatchery workers do their job. Some workers are not too particular at how they do their job and some just flat out make mistakes.

Almost all hatcheries have some contamination by other fish species in a single specie pond. Contamination can come from many sources. Some fish farms raise several species together - polyculture.

If a worker is sorting out fish and drops one wrong type of fish into a tub of several thousand fish do you think they take the time to resort all of them? Rarely would this resorting happen. Some hatcheries will catch this error when counting out fish for the customer. Sometimes fish are sold in large quantities by the pound and the amount of sorting is minimal.

When I am sorting a net full of fish containing several different species, often one jumps out of the net into a wrong container. Oops! I try to get it on the second or third resort. Rarely does a hatchery have the time to do a resort. Or the next worker is just a counter and not a very good sorter. Some workers don't care - a fish is a fish and an extra species is just considered a bonus or surprise. Bad busines in my opinion.

Expect some fish contaminaton when buying fish which is why I have learned to always sort my fish that I buy from a hatchery. Contamination is more likely with large orders, when buying smaller sized fish or from from certain hatcheries with a reputation. This style of business is how reputations are made. The hatchery can always use the excuse "the birds brought in those extra fish".

Live and learn!

I don't have the expertise to sort baby fish like the ones I bought. I was so intent on getting them transferred from the bags to the pond alive that I wasn't thinking about the possibility of contamination. I'm no Pond 'Boss', that's for sure. I guess I had an expectation that I was getting what I ordered though.

Bill, you're right about reputation. This guy will never get any of my business and when people ask about my pond, they will hear the story. And I talk to a lot of people!