What to do with all these babies??

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Don't invest in a minnow trap..... Tula, I bought what was supposed to be the best of the best...... According to You tube and the internet..... And we all know you can believe anything that is on the internet....Caught 3 out of 62..... Ugggh
Thanks for the tip! Guess I'll stick with my net and waders :)
 

cas

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Don't invest in a minnow trap
I used a minnow trap last year and caught all but one of the baby goldfish (and that is just because I missed seeing him). The secret for me was to put the trap in the pond as soon as I first noticed the babies and then check the trap often. If you leave the fish in the minnow trap long enough, they find their way back out.
 
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I used a minnow trap last year and caught all but one of the baby goldfish (and that is just because I missed seeing him). The secret for me was to put the trap in the pond as soon as I first noticed the babies and then check the trap often. If you leave the fish in the minnow trap long enough, they find their way back out.
Mine was a net type trap.,. But you are right catching fry is easier than 4 to 5 inch Koi, they get pretty smart by then
 
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Man I have been having one hell of a time catching the babies. I managed to catch around 15 so far but I have a ton more to get. I bought a quality minnow trap and will attempt using it this weekend.
 
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Man I have been having one hell of a time catching the babies. I managed to catch around 15 so far but I have a ton more to get. I bought a quality minnow trap and will attempt using it this weekend.
Let us know how it goes!
 
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The baby pond is coming along. I need to pick up a pallet of flagstone to do the fountain and wall surrounding pond but all in all it is coming along. (The bricks along the pond are only temporary as I am looking for a good deal on flagstone)

Installed a 1000 gph pump, A quality 2-stage bio filter and a separate UV light unit. I'm thinking this is all overkill for this little pond but only the best for my fish. (this picture was taken last night before I removed the old filter and replaced it with a outboard 2 stage filter which arrived today.)

Bad picture but yeah..
IMG_0751.jpg
 

sissy

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I use a window screen with 2 people one holding each end and dip it in the water and throw food in it after not feeding fish for over 2 weeks and then use my net to push the ones out I don't want and pick the screening up and done .Those babies get hungry and flock to the net .Caught all my babies in 20 minutes even with a bad knee and they went to new homes .At least I thought I caught them all until this morning .;)
 
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Well the minnow trap is a bust. I managed to catch 5 koi at the start. Walked away thinking more would enter the trap; came back 20 minutes later and all 5 got out. lol. Waited a little while and 4 more entered. I transferred those to the new pond and since then no more have entered the trap. Looks like I might have to try the window screen trick. Gonna head out to home depot and pick some up.
 
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Well the minnow trap is a bust. I managed to catch 5 koi at the start. Walked away thinking more would enter the trap; came back 20 minutes later and all 5 got out. lol. Waited a little while and 4 more entered. I transferred those to the new pond and since then no more have entered the trap. Looks like I might have to try the window screen trick. Gonna head out to home depot and pick some up.
I feel your pain...... Been there done that.... Same result
 
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Well I decided to stick with the trap but used dog food as bait. Managed to catch almost all of the babies this way. Used a net to catch around 10 more.

Gonna check the trap soon to see if I managed to get any more through the night.

between using a net and minnow trap I caught about 90% of the babies. The ones remaining got smart and are now sticking to the deeper end of my pond which is around 5 foot deep. Might not get them until they grow bigger.

At one point I was scooping some crud out of the big pond with a cup and tossing it into the grass when I saw flying through the air a small baby koi...Not sure how I managed to catch him in the cup as I was not even trying to catch him. Took me 10 seconds to find him laying in the grass, picked him up and brought him to a bucket. He was still for about a minute or so then started racing around. Once I knew he was ok I then placed him in the new pond.....woooo I thought he was a goner for a second.
 

mrsclem

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Even with the trap I made it has been almost impossible to catch last years fry. It doesn't help that the adults are cheating. I used Cheerios as bait and one female keeps grabbing 4-5 Cheerios and releasing them outside the trap and going back in and getting more. Are they that smart? and why is it that the ones I want to keep have no problem going in and getting food but the extras won't go anywhere near the trap?
I did rehome over a dozen yesterday to a lady that lost all of her koi from a lightning strike.
 
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I did manage to catch 5 more by morning. There are a couple in the trap right now too. But there are around 15 or so I haven't managed to nab yet. The wife sat out there for like an hour and caught a few more with the net. I need to get her back on the job. lol
 

cas

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I managed to catch 5 koi at the start. Walked away thinking more would enter the trap; came back 20 minutes later and all 5 got out.
tee hee.... yep, you have to be putting the minnow trap in and taking out quite a few times a day.
Sounds like you are having pretty good luck. But like sissy says.... once you get them all, they spawn again. :)
 

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