"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

Maybe I read Ann wrong, but I think she was saying, don't use a net to
catch and carry them in. I know I don't even net my goldfish, I herd them
into a bucket and carry them out of the pond. With koi, I herd them into a
big tub and bag them from that tub, water & fish as one. ;o) ~ jan

That's how I read it, too. I have fortunately never had to catch a fish in
my large pond, but I learned long ago, with aquariums, that it's a whole
lot less stress on both me and my fish to do the herding trick into an
appropriate sized container.
--
derek

As far as my aquarium fish, I've always netted them and have never had a problem
with it. They've never seemed to be the worse for the wear, as they are never
in the net to make that much of a difference. A pond, however, is a different
story altogether. There is too much space to be chasing them around in. and
that will stress them more than the netting itself will. In a pond environment
it is always best to herd them into a small area and capture them in a bucket or
another recepticle. Of course, if you have fish as old as my maroon clown
female (13-14 yrs), she has given up on running, and actually will swim right
into the net.