The draw down was not total and the mud was about 24" deep.

So far, my impression of the fish hatchery industry has not been very good.

For instance, one guy extols the virtue of his "selective bluegill breeding", quotes an outrageous delivery price and guarantees his fish will make the trip alive if I come pick them up. In the next sentence, he says crappie are a disaster of an idea, will overpopulate, grow to be paper thin and will not tolerate travel (he has no crappie to sell). He will however, sell me crappie in the Fall.

This seems to be a trend. When discussing my willingness to purchase small fish (which likely would be easier to transport) firms admit they do not have any "right now". On Google Maps some don't appear to be hatcheries at all. Although they list many species on their websites, they appear more like brokers trying to line up Fall and Spring purchases and then go and buy their fish.

Reading this forum, it appears to be "buyer beware". There are comments such as "count your fish" and "identify the species" and which give the impression this is a seasonal industry filled with questionable operators.

I was under the impression you had to have a totally empty body of water to buy from IDNR. Will they simply sell fish to a private owner?