I have read the posts on here about paddlefish in ponds.
Many of these posts were years ago but there were not a lot of follow ups with recent info pertaining to how well attempts at stocking paddlefish in Ohio or the Midwest actually worked?

They are neat fish that i am considering can anyone comment on how well they worked or didn't work for them?

Our first paddlefish got to about 2' long (from 11"-12" when stocked 2-3 years earlier) before it died during a fish kill.

We currently have one in each of our two ponds; I don't expect to see them again until they die. I think you'd have to snag one by accident to catch them. But we think they are neat.

KRM says ".... how well attempts at stocking paddlefish (PF) in Ohio or the Midwest actually worked?" Do you have a goal for stocking them? What do you mean by " how well stocking worked" ?? What do you expect them to do as a management tool besides survive and grow large - anything else? Normal stocking should "work" well, but survival maybe would not succeed or be successful?

Paddlefish are filter feeders straining the larger sized zooplankton mostly Cladocerans and probably some of the larger Cyclops-like individuals for food from the water column. Food sizes are usually larger than 1/4mm (250um); detritus has been found as abundant in their gut. . Most of the other zooplankton pass through the gill rakers and are not collected. I think most of the currently available farm sold paddlefish are raised on fish pellets so one should see the paddlefish coming to the surface for floating pellets assuming the PF remain eating fish pellets. There is an article about paddlefish in the Sept-Oct 202 0 Pond Boss magazine about paddlefish.

Our goal was to have some weird fish in the ponds, that would not interact much with the food cycle for the other species.

Bill my goal would be similar to Theos'. I just want a few maybe (3) quirky fish that are fun to observe without disrupting things too much. In all fairness to the fish, I would like to avoid stocking them if they will not thrive naturally in my 3 acre pond. I have a lot of runoff so my algae bloom is typically strong from late spring to fall. my LMB are still small enough so I was thinking this would be a ideal time to introduce a bonus type fish if it made sense. Do you think they are dying earlier because of low Oxygen levels or other causes? I also wonder how if Heron or other birds are a threat to the paddle fish or if they spend most of their time down deeper?

Paddlefish do serve the purpose of a bonus fish although you may rarely see them. Paddlefish should live okay in a 3 acre Ohio pond that has a warm season algae bloom. Growth will be determined on the composition of the zooplankton community. I would not stock any more than 1 to 1.3 per acre.
Ask the fish farm if they are pellet trained then you are more likely to regularly see them and monitor them. There might be some info on YouTube of how to catch them. There is a picture in the Sept-Oct 2020 issue of Pond Boss magazine of one of the PB moderators who caught a large one. Did not hear how he did that.

Thanks Bill. I called Jones to order up 2 or 3 and unfortunately the person I spoke with says that they cannot be stock in my area. I was under the impression that I was OK on that ( meaning far south enough of lake Erie) so if they are correct this could squash my plans.

you will see them, often in the summer in mississippi river backwaters they filter feed near surface and are very easy to spot zig zagging around while feeding

If you are in the Erie watershed, I think paddlefish are an ODNR no-no.

Theo,

I had dinner with Steve Fender of Fender's Hatchery in Baltic Ohio near you. He has some experience with Paddlefish. You might want to give Steve a call if you want to talk Paddlefish.

BR,

Don Adam
NE Ohio

Or llamas.

Don, good to know.. I will give him a call... I have bought fish from Fenders a few times now and Steve is always very friendly and helpful.