Does anyone know what the deal is with the fish shortage in the Great lakes region? I have been having a hard time finding fish to stock. Have heard a couple of explanations, Corona virus, vhs, state hassling hatcheries, anybody know for sure what's going on?

Hi Dave, I'm sorry I was unaware of this. What types of fish are you looking for and in what areas?

I was looking for warmouth, yellow perch, fathead minnows, rainbow Trout. Warmouth is not common here but found a supplier that ships. Could not find yellow perch anywhere, ended up ordering from Zetts about the only one left that ships fish. Harrietta Hills has rbt and some fathead left but not ready for the Trout yet. They canceled all of there fish day events along with most the other Michigan suppliers. I have not gotten a solid answer as to why the shortage, just curious I suppose. I think I will end up with everything, was just a pain to find. I normally would have just driven down to Harrietta Hills which is about an hour away.

There is a fish shortage because sales are through the roof. There was a YP failed spawn last Spring in the area, so that's why the YP shortage is this year. FHM's are getting sold out quickly all over the country, especially in Arkansas. 3 of my suppliers are sold out of Redear Sunfish, and I was not able to get 1"-4" bluegill from 2 suppliers on Thursday.

Now with the high diesel prices, increased fish feed, chemical and labor shortages, what fish are available will be expensive. I know of a few fish farms that closed this year due to labor shortages.

My last trip I burned through close to 200 gallons of diesel fuel just to pick up fish and I'm not done delivering them all yet.

esshup,

Thanks for that "behind the curtain" explanation of some of the problems.

I suspect that most occasional retail fish purchasers (such as myself) have very little idea how much time, effort, and battles against random "bad luck" problems the fish suppliers have to work through every year.

You are correct. Did you know that Pelicans will feed at night and can just about wipe out a pond in a few nights? Water temps in AR went from too cold to "Dang, we have to start up the paddlewheel agitators to get more O2 in the production ponds because the fish are up piping at the surface at daybreak. We have to stop seining the ponds to get the paddlewheels going."

I got a phone call the first week in April saying that there were no more bluegill available bigger than 1" in all of Lonoke County, AR due to them all being sold already. That's why I'm planning on poking in 12-16 ponds this Fall, so I can get fish earlier in the year and have room to store them so I have inventory when our fish stocking season rolls around. We have to get them the same time the Southerners get them so we can have some!!

My minnow supplier told me that if I wanted Fatheads I needed to tell them now (this was 2 weeks ago) because they would be sold out in 2 weeks. Whatever I wanted, they'd hold back for me if I let them know within a few days.

The fish will be available this Fall, but they need to grow the little ones a bit before they get to market size. The supply of advanced sized fish is very limited.

Very VERY limited...

Dave S
I got my YP from Laggis fish farm which was just over an hour drive from me. That is not a large operation and he gets his fish from suppliers I think in Ohio or Indiana so he can't always fill orders either. It would be a long drive for you but probably cheaper than shipping and you could get larger size YP. How many were you hoping for?

Otherwise you can try Stony Creek near Grant MI as they often have a selection.

I am not familiar with it but there is a fish farm in Imlay City as well. That might be closer to you.

Wow, I might need to create some forage ponds in my back field and try to get a reproducing group of panfish, FHM, shiners, and maybe even YP to help fellow MI pond owners out. I'm not sure I would be allowed to sell them without license and fish testing but maybe I would donate them with hopes for a 'tip' from the customer.

Thanks for all the responses, I have found most of what I wanted, just not the qty. I will just have to be more patient and stock some more in the fall.