Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish from Jones Hatchery, Ohio?

Hi,

I'm planning on stocking my pond this spring and the nearest hatchery I can find is Jones Fish And Lake Management in Baltic, Ohio. Anybody deal with them? How's the quality of their stock?

I'm located in Western PA.

Thanks

Jsec, I'm just next door in Monroeville, PA., although my pond is in Somerset.

I've used a different fish source out of Harrisburg, PA. and they've delivered for me. They're usually coming by on the PA Turnpike, and they'll meet people just off the turnpike. My orders have been fairly large, so they've delivered for me.

If you like, send me an email at:

[email protected]

and I'll give you my phone number and can give you more details.

Thanks.

jsec - you have your hatcheries & locations mixed up. It is either Jones' from Newport OH,(east cincinnati) or Fenders at Baltic OH (southcentral OH).

Bill,

My mistake. The hatchery I talked to is Jones' near Cincinnati.

We got all our fish from Jones Fish, in two different orders and three different deliveries. They sold us Golden Shiners, Fatheads, and Bullfrog Tadpoles in 2003 and Redears, Bluegills, Hybrid Bluegills, Grass Carp, Channel Cats, and Largemouth Bass in 2004. All the fish arrived healthy and "as-advertised" as far as size. I believe the quantities were all in order as well, but that's kind of hard to check closely with 200 fingerlings in a 5 gallon bucket.

All the fish (and the frogs) have done well, with the exception of the Fatheads which I think have been (predictably) eliminated. Bret, who handled all our deliveries, was very nice to deal with and very knowledgeable (according to their website, Jonesfish.com, Bret and most of their staff have at minimum a Bachelors in Fisheries Management or Biology). Prices were as advertised; they will deliver fish orders over $150 free. The showed up on the days they said they were going to show up and were conscientious about how we got the fish to the pond (it's too wet in the Spring to drive there at our place, the fish went down in buckets by hand or on a platform on my tractor). I'm pretty sure that western PA is in their delivery area.

The only irregularity was one Hybrid Striped Bass that showed up sometime in the 2004 deliveries (I assume mixed in with the LMB) - and my daughter, who caught the HSB in late 2004 at 10 1/2 inches, wishes that this mistake had occurred multiple times. I will definitely get fish from them again, assuming they stock whatever I am looking for at the time.

jsec, I would be curious as to the stocking suggestion from Jones or are you planting your own mix? Would you mind sharing this? Ted

Ted,

I have an old 1/4 acre farm pond that has been neglected over the years and is in need of work. The only fish taken out of it in the year since I've owned it are a few bullheads, so over the short term I plan on stocking with bluegills only just to give the kids something to catch. There's no real stocking plan since this is a temporary situation.

In two or three years I hope to drain the pond, clean it out, have the dam recored, and expand it to about 1/2 acre. After reading Pond Boss for a couple years I'll have a better idea of what I want to do.

JSEC. Jones is in Newtown,OH,not Newport. Newport is approx. 25 miles Southwest across the Ohio river in northern Kentucky. Have bought from Jones for myself & for ponds I've managed. No problems with quality or delivery. Bill leopold is their Biologist. Bernie H.

Bernie - Thanks for the correction. My brain misfires once in awhile. I need to more often double check some on my rarely used facts/trivia.