Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish Swap...

This may be a stupid idea, but bear with me -- I'm trying to think outside of the box...
We often hear/read of the importance of adding new genetics to our lakes and ponds, particularly LMB. I know for a fact that I need some new blood in my lake, as it hasn't been managed in any way over the past 20 years and all I've got are thousands of kissin' cousin LMBs. Has anyone on the forum ever considered a "fish swap" with another member, considering the lakes/ponds were somewhat close to each other, and there was a safe and healthy way to transport the fish? I'm sure there are pros and cons to this idea, I'm just not experienced enough to know what they are and would love to hear from some of the experts. Thanks.

Fishman Dan,

Thinking out of the box is something I love to do...but I'm just a pond meister, not a pro and/or "expert".

Hopefully you won't hold that against me.

There have been some threads on fish genetics on the Forum in the past and a most recent one which describes two "camps" of opinion. One camp says that you should never stock LMB from outside your ecological climate zone and another says that it is important to periodically refresh your genetics with new blood.

I believe we pond meisters can do both quite readily and thereby increase our chances of success. We can introduce "new blood" and keep it within our "zone" by bringing in LMB from another pond on our property and/or a nearby neighbors property. I prefer the former but have also done the latter. I have a pure "northern" pond, a pure "Florida" pond and am building F1 ponds. I plan to add northern and Florida bass periodically (every three to five years) to the F1 ponds to maintain the gene pool. I also have already added pure "northerns" to the "northern" pond to spice it up on occasion and likewise the Florida pond from known local sources.

The big risk, other than the fish introducing a fish disease, which is a very low probability if you check your sources carefully, is introducing unpure northern strain to the northern pond and likewise in the Florida pond. If you are not concerned about that or do not have a need to maintain separate gene pools, then I believe your thought is right on...get some LMB from a known neighbors pond and satisfy both camps of experts.

At the same time, you may be increasing your "aggressiveness" factor because you are introducing fish which have been caught, instead of removing aggressive fish for population control. It is as good of an approach as possible, I believe, in view of the uncertainties among the experts.

fish guy sold me all my fish at one time. after the bass ate the minnows , they had nothing to eat. he sold me them stupid hybred bluegill that don't reproduce very well. they starved for two years. after catching most of the bass from the first stocking. i put in 10 bass 6" to 12" from 4 different ponds. after seeing some of the catfish with genetic problems i was worried i would have problems with other fish. i also put about 100 6" to 8" regular bluegills from two different ponds. i figure adding some different fish every couple years. i a firm believer in different genetics for a healthy fish population and a healthy pond. alot say to worry about introducing disease's. i haven't seen any problems with that. i looked over all the fish i put in. good luck with what you decide.

Dan, I have done the fish swap thing with people in my area. We used a tagging gun so that these fish would not be harvested. It was fun for all and it was very interesting to see how often a tagged fish was caught.
As for results...these were all healthy lakes, no noticeable results will be actually seen. In our minds, we just helped to maintain what we already had for years to come.

My only caution would be against transfering nuisance aquatic plants and fish diseases from one body of water to another. Either of those could end up having a negative impact on your pond in the long run.