I did the 'bulk fry' deal 2 years ago....to date I'm not sure if any survived to multiply. I've set traps and haven't caught a one. I had one heck of a good cover area in the shallows as well....plenty of room to hide.
I think the concept is sound and it'd work great to jumpstart a forage base but if you have an established pond with predators in all size classes I'm not sure you'll get a reproductive base from fry.
I have a 12" above ground pool I let the water get good and green in. I thought about getting some and putting in that for a bit to grow before putting into the pond.
They don't sell to south dakota , wish I could get some
Are you close to a border?
I might just have to go visit somebody in nebraska, as the other states around me are treated the same, super hard and impossible to import minnows into ND MT AND WYO.
Has anyone done the Anderson Minnow Golden Shiner Fry Delivery and had success, seems kind of neat, kids would like it anyways. Thanks.
I didn't do the fry, but I did order adults from them. The FHM arrived safely but 90% of the GSH died. Just make sure you take a photo if you have any problems with dead loss, I didn't and they wouldn't believe me and refused to issue a refund.
I've been kicking around ordering 3 boxes of fry, but finally decided to pass. After talking to Anderson recently, they said that the fry need to be put into the pond promptly after they arrive and need to be in the pond by no later than the following afternoon after the day in which they were shipped. Unfortunately, the FedEx truck may not drop them off at my house until 4:30 pm. Then I have to take a 20 minute drive out to the pond in my pickup and then spend time to acclimate the bags to the pond water. Anderson told me that they would not "warranty" the fry if they were put in the pond beyond afternoon. The question lies therein - what time does afternoon end? So I decided to pass this year, and will instead spend $400 or so on buying local crayfish from a supplier.
Live fish is a tough gig when it comes to all the things that could go wrong. And then the issue of determining who is responsible is not really black and white.......just too many variables.
This will be my third year doing this, and I've had no problems.
I did it in the spring of 2009 in a new 1.5 acre pond. I could locate "clouds" of them in the fall maybe having doubled in size. If memory serves, I think I also put fhm in that spring. Bluegills went in in the fall and lmb the following June. I have some nice bass in my pond now including a 7.25 lb this spring but have never seen an adult golden shiner.