Over population

[Christinehappyday]

Hi Guys
I’ve recently moved to a house that has a garden pond . The previous owner did tell me that he had put some ‘river fish’ ie Roach in there.
when I first moved here it was predominantly Koi and Goldfish - now the roach are taking over. Am I allowed to catch them and put them back in the river ?
Thanks in advance

 

[j.w]

@Christinehappyday
Just guessing but I would think if they came from the river they could be put back in the river. The Roach would be much happier in a fast moving river than in a pond.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Not sure how your systems are over there, but I would check with the “wildlife a fisheries” department before I considered doing this.

 

[j.w]

If you check w/the wildlife dept be careful to let them know you didn't take them out of the river as maybe it was against the law to take them out. Maybe do a what if someone took them out and wanted to put them back in scenario. Just asking for a fiend kind of deal.

 

[bagsmom]

Perhaps your wildlife and fisheries dept would even relocate them for you!

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

My guess is you will need to lower the pond water level to catch them. I can never catch our fish.

 

[brokensword]

Welcome to the forum!

My guess is you will need to lower the pond water level to catch them. I can never catch our fish.

that's the easiest way. One thing I've always noted when hearing about people trying to catch fish; I learned a long time ago that if you use two nets, one the chaser and one the trap, it's super simple. I used to have a lot of tinfoil barbs and other fast tetras in very large aquariums (200+ gallons) and an old 125 that was on a 3' metal frame that was awkward as heck (all this from my dad) and catching those types of fish is the definition of lunacy. You think koi/goldfish are fast? Try netting a tinfoil barb or bala shark in a large open area. And of course, I recognized even then that the fish were being so stressed out. That's when I found 2 nets so much better than one. You can slowly herd the one you want by nudging it toward the trap net, which is just laying there unmoving. Eventually they head right into it and then you sweep it up.

I can remember telling this to many a LPS clerk, clueless that they were stressing the fish I was going to buy, and then ignoring me. Needless to say, I didn't get more fish from them any more. So, 2 nets not one. And of course, use the very large nets for ponding!

 

[addy1]

Good idea, I just don't bother to try and catch any. I keep the food level down, usually nothing, during spawning which equals eggs being eaten.

 

[GBBUDD]

Two nets were futile in my pond I did my best to give my fish every opportunity to escape preditors, not realizing at the time that I would be one of those predators trying to catch them. You can see from my video postings there's so many places for the to hide. Even if there's no cave tunnel or space behind a Boulder they just slip under a lip and they win. So That's were dead pool and the pond expansion came from. 22 feet long 14 feet wide at its widest that narrows to 4 feet wide at the narrowest where the gate gets closed when it's time to catch them and to get them into the area.]] I do what I rarely do these days is to feed them. I thought it maybe a bit cruel not to at first but there's not one skinny fish in the house. Just the opposite actualy. Considerably easier to net in a area with no hiding spots and walls angled the same as the net.

Going after fish in a good sized pond with one net is like chasing a Nascar with a Yugo