How Do Fish Get into Small Ponds

I have been fishing for largemouth bass in one particular pond fairly often and someone had asked me how did the fish get into the pond?  That is a question I have pondered also, sorry bad pun opportunity. Searching the Internet it seems like many people have asked that same question. Probably the most popular answer is fish eggs attach to the feet of water fowl and travel with them to be deposited in new bodies of water. Some people really questioned how often that actually happens but other people replied it only has to happen rarely and fish multiply quickly. Times of flooding are another opportunity for the fish to travel to new areas.

I thought I would do a little experiment on my own and check out a small man made pond that was created by Apache Mall in Rochester Minnesota. After purchasing some red worms at the Scheels sporting goods which is just across the highway from this pond, I threw out a worm on a small hook with a bobber. The bobber had barely touched the water and it started to go under. I pulled back and started reeling but there wasn’t much resistance, it was a tiny bluegill about 3 inches long. About this time circling vultures started to come closer, probably just to see what this crazy guy was doing by the small pond.

In the process of maybe 20 minutes I caught three more bluegills that were all the same tiny size. I also tried fishing in a small lake in Rochester where I caught only the more silver colored sunfish, these were somewhat larger. I have heard there are largemouth bass in the lake. In the pond I do not know, maybe without a predator fish the bluegills remain stunted in the pond.

More research no doubt could be done on these observations. 

Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com

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