# Will a pond really get fish in it naturally?



## Eliminator

If a man made pond with no inlet streams or nearby lakes could birds actually propagate fish? Can fish eggs survive out of water, they say birds can transport them, is this a wivestale? I've searched the internet but not much solid info on it just alot of opinion and speculation.


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## buckzye11

My family had a pond dug for the cow's water on the farm....... 3 years later i was catching bluegill out of it. I don't know of anyone putting fish in.


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## CRAPPIE LOVER

I have known of a couple of ponds that were dug and the fish came...Ducks and shore birds bring eggs in on there feet & Legs and deposit them there...If You Build It They Will Come...JIM....CL....


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## Eliminator

I really want to believe it, it's amazes me that if you dig a pond fish can eventually get in there naturally, and to happen in just a few years is absolutely remarkable. the fish eggs evidently don't suffacate like a fish would out of water.


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## c. j. stone

I put fish into my newly constructed pond-but did not put the crayfish, mussels, muskrats, bullfrogs or the variety of turtles that are in there now. They came from somewhere, why not fish?? I have a lot of ducks and geese come to the pond regularly and once in a while, a kingfisher, or one of those damned bitterns.


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## 2120Tom

A few years ago, there was a large beaver made pond/swamp near my house. When the beaver(s) got trapped and a new drainage system was installed I found several (dead) foot long tiger musky that got trapped in shallow pools. I saw a smaller live one as recent as last fall in another deeper area of the remaining pond.
I had always heard that the herons are best for transporting fish life from one body of water to another.....and we have a lot of herons around here, as well as ducks and geese.


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## M.Magis

I thought it was a wives tale too, until I found bluegills in our pond. We&#8217;re miles from any other bodies of water, with no connection what so ever. However, it didn&#8217;t happen in a few years. It was close to 20 years before I noticed them. 
Beaver ponds on the other hand, are a different matter. The streams usually have some fish in them. I&#8217;m guessing the fish 2120Tom found were regular musky, not tiger musky. Tiger muskies are man made.


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## willyb021

something even more amazing. i just realized its "old wives tale" and not "old wise tale" haha


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## Snakecharmer

willyb021 said:


> something even more amazing. i just realized its "old wives tale" and not "old wise tale" haha


Stay married long enough and you'll hear a lot of BS from your wife - Hence old wives tale. And if she reads this, there wont be any old wives tail......


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## ShutUpNFish

Most certainly....In time, fish will be there without a doubt.


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## Gottagofishn

I read "The Complete Angler" by Isaac Walton many years ago and if I recall correctly, he stated that fish come from raindrops&#8230;..or that tadpoles turn into fish&#8230;&#8230;.
OK&#8230;..give the guy a break, it was written in 1653&#8230;


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## Muskarp

M.Magis said:


> Im guessing the fish 2120Tom found were regular musky, not tiger musky. Tiger muskies are man made.


Probably pickerel. Since all were less than a foot and found in n/e Ohio.


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## JimmyMac

I've fished at least a dozen farm ponds that I was told were never stocked, loaded with bullhead and bluegill, sometimes even big bass... 

Nature will always be a step ahead of science.


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## c. j. stone

Not to hijack, or add more "speculation and opinion", but this thread reminds me of something. An organization called Pheasants Forever believes if there is "suitable habitat" available, there will be wild, Chinese Ringed Neck Pheasants!! Where do they come from???
Maybe they drop out of the sky like Isaac Walton's fish!!


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## Eliminator

Snakecharmer said:


> Stay married long enough and you'll hear a lot of BS from your wife - Hence old wives tale. And if she reads this, there wont be any old wives tail......


That's a good one lol.


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## Avid

JimmyMac said:


> I've fished at least a dozen farm ponds that I was told were never stocked, loaded with bullhead and bluegill, sometimes even big bass...
> 
> Nature will always be a step ahead of science.


Got to agree. Life always finds a way and one of the biggest bluegills I've ever caught was also in one of these "farm ponds"..:B


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## fontinalis

it is amazing to me, but somehow they always find their way in.


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## [email protected]

As hard as I have to try to get fish from egg to fingerling I have to take offence to the idea that birds can do it just willy nilly However, I have seen plenty of times where fish end up in a body of water with no logical explanation as to where they came from. There is no denying that given a chance life will find a way.


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## warden

Lucas first of all congrst!! Second sometimes ponds are stocked with water in a bucket,sometimes animals and birds, sometimes by Lucas!


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## traderjim59

I always thought that the tiger musky was in fact the original musky.


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## MuskieJim

We dug a pretty large (1/2 acre) pond at my Grandfather's years ago and only put a few bass in there. Now there are black crappies, bluegills, and I'm sure a few others. But he lives very close to Lake Erie. 



traderjim59 said:


> I always thought that the tiger musky was in fact the original musky.


The true "tiger" musky are musky eggs that have been fertilized by a Northern Pike. They are made in hatcheries now but still occur in nature, especially in bodies of water with both muskies and pike present. 

This has some good info: scroll down to the Tiger Musky heading: http://www.muskie411.com/fishid.html


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## [email protected]

Knowing how sensitive fish eggs are I find it hard to believe they could be transferred by bird feet and even more unlikely that a population of one or more species could be established. I'm not saying it's impossible but more like a 1 in a million of "unstocked" ponds could it happen by bird feet. A "helpful" neighbor or baitbucket are far more likely.


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