Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking overnighting fish

Buddy of mine is catching lots of nice yellow perch from his pond in Minnesota. How would he go about bagging up ten or twelve of them and sending them to me here in southern Missouri????

To eat? Dry ice..

Thats also not a bad idea but I would prefer them alive to stock in my pond.

Most he is catching are around ten to twelve inchers. The idea is to stock these and hope for a good spawn this spring to get them established before stocking predators later on.

to transport minnows from one state to another is ussually illegal (at least here). I think the authorities would frown on that, as well as the possible bugs that might travel with them, it could ruin your fishery. or start a new missouri colony of VHS.



Good luck

Check with the authorities to see if it's legal.

With that out of the way:

He should hold the fish in a cage for a couple of days without food so they don't poop/pee in the skinny water that they are shipped in.

Get a large foam ice chest, the thicker the foam the better. Get a couple of those chemical freezer packs. Take a large plastic bag (they make them for shipping fish that have double walls).


Fill the bag about 1/4 to 1/3 with water. Put the fish in the bag, and then compress the bag so there is no air in the bag. Fill it back up with oxygen, leaving enough room for you to twist the top of the bag, then fold it over. Useing a rubber band after you twist and fold over the top of the bag, put the rubberband on it tightly. Take another bag like that one, turn the first bag open side down into the 2nd bag. Do the twist/tie thing again with the 2nd bag. Put the ice packs in the cooler, then put the bag with the fish in it. I'd tape the lid shut with duct tape. Then put that cooler in a cardboard box, and run like heck to FedEx. Overnight them, shipping them during the beginning part of the week.

Ozark

You can have all you want this Spring when you come visit me! SMB and YP. If you can't wait, I bet Scott's method will work, but it probably is illegal.

It's Illegal to export live yellow perch from a Great Lakes state without testing for VHS and possibly heterosporis. To test you need to sacrifice a minimum of 60 fish. Doesn't matter if it's a private pond.

Even as tough as yellow perch are I have serious doubts they would survive even overnight transport at those sizes. You could also have a punctured bag from the spines. Fish of that size would be all beat up too by the time they got to their destination.

you'd have much better luck shipping smaller fish...
i had 25 yp fingerlings (2" to 3")delivered in a post office "flat rate" box.. 1 doa that looked like he got stuck in a fold in the bag..
oxygen "pills" are sold, but i haven't read much about them yet..

Thanks for info everyone. Sounds like ill wait til spring and come and see ya TJ. Just getting fidgety, even though we have had a mild winter I have not been able to do much with the pond latey. what is vhs

Why not pick up legal YPs from a hatchery in Missouri?

who has them available around here. Everyone I have contacted or emailed either does not have any or never responds.

A couple up here in North Missouri do. RaccoonValleyFisheries.com -- (816) 540-2367 -- advertises YP on its website for 20 cents an inch. That's located just SE of Lee's Summit in Pleasant Hill. I'll see if I can find anything closer to you.

I originally wrote "Pleasant Valley." Should be Pleasant Hill.

Nice work Mo Bill - I don't believe we've ever been aware of this hatchery before. That pricing isn't too bad, either - 3-4" fish are about perfect stocking size sans predators.

I would find out if they are pellet trained, this is a big plus. Let us know what you guys find out.

Ozark you still have to come visit this Spring even if you land your YP in MO. Sure is a shorter trip for you and that pricing is reasonable IMO.

absolutely TJ, need to get some of your smallies. Just got off their website, I am going to contact them to see if they have anything left. They do look very reasonable.

I don't think there's anything to be concerned about except whether they are pellet trained, which you want. Identification is foolproof unlike id of a 1" BG or RES!!! But we know all about that, don't we!

You are going to have a heckuva unique fishery down there. I cannot wait to visit soon. When you're up here we have to spend time on my waterfall/pump ideas for pond and eventual home.

I'm keeping the SMB pond ice free all winter if it snows to reduce risk of winterkill. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed I don't have 10 9" SMB that have fattened up at the expense of their brothers and sisters!

Heard that!! got a hold of them and they are shut down for season. their fish are not pellet trained so i will be seeing you this spring for yp and smb. what time of year are u thinking? would be more than happy to help out with the waterfall plans. we will have to coordinate your trip to coincide with the big striper run...start saving for the taxidermy bill. I just got back the 42 and 52 pounder. They look great on the wall but my wallet took a major butt whippen.

I think mid April will work for the YP and SMB and a day to goof around the place and talk pumps n such.

Count me in on the Striper run...will bring at least one buddy and we'll likely be coming back 2x annually Spring and Fall, right?

Are you catching your stripers up in the river or down in the lake?

All depends on the weather and the rain.. Got to go with the flow when fishing for hog stripes. If the water is up and rolling fish up river. If No flow fish down. Tj, My best time period is usually around end of June and first part of July. But with the right conditions we have done exceptional in Feb. I'll keep ya posted throughout the year, but if I had to plan ahead it would be July for the most consistant.

I am 100% in on a trip in Feb, too. We have no ice here and I've got cabin fever something fierce. I can get there with a 2 day notice, maybe less. Please let me know!