Where do they come from?

[c17Lat]

I live in maryland, and our department of natural resources gives us info on trout stockings. But my question is where do the other fish species come from that are in the local ponds and lakes. I'm almost 100% sure that all ponds and lakes in MD are manmade, so how do the crappie, catfish, bluegill, bass, and other freshwater fish get into these bodies of water :-?

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Many are stocked initially and some get fish that find their way in from entering streams,etc.

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

[langs15]

They stock em'. Throw in babies and they grow. My lake does it every 5 years or so, since in the winter time, ever 5 years or so they lower it all the way for repairs, that's what they did this year, no wonder I ain't hittting anything.

[VABasser]

Well the most obvious way is they are stocked also.  Maybe just stocked way back when and have been left to reproduce by themselves.  But I know what you mean, I've seen dinky little ponds in neighborhoods that are more drainage than anything else that have bluegill and bass in them.  And also golf course ponds, I don't think the golf course would stock their ponds.  lol.  I always wonder how they got in there.  Maybe some enterprising angler threw some in. Bluegill and bass are pretty hearty so I don't really wonder how they live in those ponds but just how they got there.   :-/

[c17Lat]

Thanks for the replies. Yea I was really wondering about all the fish in the golf course ponds. You know, why would a golf course stock its ponds when they don't want people fishing them? I remember my teacher one day saying that fish get into small ponds because fish eggs stick to the legs of waterfowl who are in a river or somthing, and the eggs come off when the birds land in another body of water. I'm not to sure about that though.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Other than stocking Ive heard it said that waterfowl going from pond to pond can carry eggs on their feathers and can move fish this way Maybe some of our more knowlegable members can clarify this as this was told to me a while ago and I have always wondered if this is true

[abelfisher]

Birds

[langs15]

I still don't get how birds do this? :-?

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Eggs are so short lived once out of the water, dead the instant they dry out so I'd rule out birds except for introducing plant seeds and pieces of plants. I'd say besides stocking, and live bait being dumped, and occasional flooding of creeks, there are no other regularly expected introductions unless you're an evolutionist believing fish emerge from mud. Though probably most ponds are stocked to provide fishing, control plants and clean the water, I've found stock ponds with no fish species at all and never known to have fish, but they could support fish. I suppose a tornado could suck up fish from a fishery and deposit them in another, seeing dead fish in lawns from those storms. Of course storms like hurricanes move fish around.

Jim

[abelfisher]

Birds will actually take a minnow, etc from one pond , take off flying and accidentally drop them in other ponds.  I have read this in numerous articles that birds will actually help stock ponds.  Not in large numbers, but think about..  What if 50 small fish were dropped in a pond the first year.  These fish get larger, reproduce and the number grow exponentially.  Wallalll!  After thinking about it, it really isn't too hard to understand or believe.  Wouldn't take but a few years  for a small pond to have a respectable population of fish.

[basser89]

Welcome to the boards!

Good to see another MD angler on here!

I know that MD and PA used to have an arrangement that PA supplied MD with muskies and MD supplied PA with stripers (not sure they are still doing it). Also, I know there are ponds in Washington and Frederick counties that were stocked with bass, bluegill 'n such years ago as part of some program the state had back then. Others may be privately stocked. Hope this helps!

[Nick_Barr]

FISHERMAN!!!! My club, everytime somebody caught a 4 1/2 lbs. plus smallmouth, the kept it in the livewell with the Aerator on and some rejuvanade and release them onto a couple banks at a local Largemouth Heaven that could sustain Smallmouth. they started this in 1997 and ended in 2000 but  more than 50 smallmouth over 4 1/2 lbs. were released into this lake per year and now you can go and catch some HAWG smallmouth, not very many, but HAWGS. and it even made the Largemouth Fishery even BETTER

[langs15]

that's cool, people used to do that into my lake, but they brought muskies in that ate all the bass, so they had police and some high tec fisherman go out and cath em', they took em' outta our lake and don't know what they did with em'.

[RoLo]

I've always suspected that Osprey and Kingfishers

are responsible for the natural redistribution of fish.

Since these piscivorous birds habitually dive under water,

any fish eggs that may adhere to their legs, bills or plumage

would be kept moist long enough to be deposited in another body of water.

Roger

[0119]

Here in Florida, many saltwater species occupy freshwater bass waters.   There are also bass in many roadside ditches.  Fl. Fish & Wildlife biologist told me that birds do transfer fish eggs on there legs and feet.

[Rattlinrogue]

If it's like my lake,they restock every 1-2 years and don't announce it.The only reason I know about it, where I fish, is because our local state fisheries biologist is a good friend of mine.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I spent a few hours running searches in "Fisheries" online and other professional groups and didn't find a single instance of live fish eggs found on bird feet. They are heavily studied in the area of spreading exotics, parasites, diseases, spores, etc. Fish eggs only live seconds out of the water, certainly drying out in the first few seconds in flight. Some experts admit the possibility is "conceivable", but highly unlikely. On internet blog groups like this one the theory lives, but is without scientific basis. Even if an egg could be transported live the liklihood of hatching and surviving unprotected is absolutely nil. Any egg left unattended in it's native bed is most certain to be eaten. Eggs put  in a foreign pond would be immediately subject to falling into mud, falling too deep to incubate, experiencing deadly cool-down both in flight and subject to chemical hazards from change in pH, DO, and a host of other situations that would make it practically impossible to resume development. Research has shown moving fish eggs to a new location for the purpose of stocking ponds doesn't propagate fish. Moving fingerlings is marginally successful. They come off a well prepared ideal bed and would have to be placed in an identical home complete with adult guardianship except with species which count on their eggs being washed downstream unprotected.

Jim

[RoLo]

Any egg left unattended in it's native bed is most certain to be eaten. Eggs put in a foreign pond would be immediately subject to falling into mud

Many species of fish are known as "free-spawners", a good example is the northern pike.

During the pre-spawn (usually under the ice) they migrate into shallow marshlands

where their eggs are set adrift over a mud bottom without any nest and without any parenting.

The marvel of Mother Nature is unfathomable; wherever she finds a niche, she finds a way to fill it.

Roger

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

My last sentence agrees with that. Stripers are another example, their eggs requiring 48 hours of tumbling downstream. Sheer numbers of eggs makes survival of some more possible. But ponds don't usually support fish species using free spawning. Still, even a striper egg must remain soaked, no doubt  one minute out of water spelling death. They suffocate out of water.

Jim

[dink]

As for golf courses, many voluntarily stock their ponds in the name of natural habitat.  This is a widespread practice in the face of the ever-growing environmental concerns.  I have worked in the golf course industry for 16 years and base this on first-hand experience.  My golf course stocked hundreds of bass, bluegill, catfish and crappie in our irrigation ponds years ago for this very reason.  We also designated certain areas of land around the ponds for waterfowl habitat.

[Jus3263]

I have been thinking about stocking my man-made lake, its only about a year old and i really want to get some bass in there.  Since the lake isn't very old and there probably aren't really any other fish in it, will bass survive in it if i put them in there?  Will they find things to eat?

[Matt Fly]

My dad pointed out when I was a youngster about fishing some of the ranchers stock tanks, they had requested nothing new "types of fish" be added to their ponds.    My dad point out, that people trap and siene bait from other areas  and transports the bait to other lakes, ponds and rivers.    The ranchers didn't want carp or goldfish as my dad explained to me.   My dad pointed out six types of fish in our minnow buckets, suckers, bluegills, red horse minnows, mud minnow, baby bass and a gar.   We removed the suckers and gar the rest was okay to use.

I'd say sometimes as kids, we bring home a catch and don't want to clean them and release them into our local ponds or we as fishermen introduce them by transporting bait that was bought or caught.   i have had baby bass mixed into my minnows before.   I always throw what minnows didn't get used into the water.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I wouldn't wait for a one in 200 gazillion chances of a bird stocking a bass in your pond. It might take 100,000 years to happen, and the chances would be 5,999 out of 6,000 that miracle bass would die or be eaten. Contact your local Agri coop (county) agent for local recommendations of what species to stock and how many of each. Ponds are usually stocked by people for any of many reasons, so get it off to a good start before someone messes it up for you.

Jim