I don't suppose you have a great many trash cans or such that you can pump
the water into from emptying the pond that you can then pump back into the
pond after the fish are caught? This is going to be stressful to the fish
no matter what you do I imagine. Is the pond one that you could put a
fairly large size of window screening in (giant net) that the fish will have
a harder time escaping from? I had to move two koi from my upper pond to
the lower one when the became too large to be happy in the smaller area.
They were slimy (literally and figuratively) devils... I ended up partially
emptying the pond and using a large piece of netting. It was still
difficult but doable. DK



"Bette E." wrote in message
...
It's getting late in the season and I have way too many goldfish to
winter over in my 16 by 8 by 2 foot deep pond, here in mid Ohio. They
are cunning and have so far, have mostly escaped my attempts to catch
them.
I have 8 lg. 10 inch fish, and 40 or so, somewhere between fry and 5
inches.
# 1. Is it too late to drain down to 6 or 8 inches of water and try to
net them?
# 2. Will this upset the biological balance of the pond for the winter
months, when I refill it?
With all the rainfall and numerous health problems this summer, it got
away from me.
Thanks for any info.
Bette