You’ve invested in new fish for your pond or lake!  Make sure to treat your fish with care when handling and transporting them from the hatchery or fish truck to your pond or lake.  Introducing the fish to their new habitat causes stress.  Here are ways to minimize the experience.

• Introduce the fish to their new habitat as quickly as possible.  Don’t delay in getting the fish to the water.
• Transport your fish in a cool and shaded area of your car.
• Once on site, let the fish rest while in their bags in a cool, shady area.  The sun can quickly raise the temperatures inside the bag.
• Introduce your fish slowly to the pond, pouring a small amount of the pond or lake water into your open bag to even out the water temperature and acclimate your fish.
• Do not dump the fish from the bag into your pond or lake!  Take time to acclimate them to the temperature of your pond or lake.  
• After a few minutes a few fish should swim away.  If they do, release the rest in that bag.  
• If the fish do not swim away, repeat the process, adding more pond/lake water to the bag to let the fish adjust to the water temperature.
• Floating the bags is discouraged as the sun can quickly raise the temperatures inside the bag.  Instead pour a small amount of pond or lake water into an open bag, allowing the fish to adjust to the water temperature.

Tags: fish, fish stocking