It's remotely possible that the minnows could have come from a pond that's about 2500' away however I don't know if that pond ever overflows it's banks. I'll ask the neighbor next time I see him.

I'll see if I can get a sample. I didn't see as many yesterday as I saw in the summer however there are still a fair amount of minnows. I don't know if the cold weather has anything to do with it. We've been in a drought and the pond is probably a foot low. Maybe they saw me coming really early. I'll get a minnow trap and see what we can find.

I have not thought about HSB but am open to them.