Don't be so pleased that the heron visited. I lost 8 of my 3 year old fish (about 6 inches long each) to a visiting heron. I put up one of those plastic herons and covered the ponds with netting. Haven't seen him since.

Regarding stocking with fish (heron issue aside) it really depends on where you live. her in NJ we have another 6 weeks or so before we start feeding wheat germ food and stop feeding entirely around Halloween depending on the temperature. Also it depends on what you plan to do with the fish over the winter. If you plan to bring them inside, stock and feed away!

If they will stay outside and temps will reach freezing you may want to wait until Spring.

Tom in Howell, NJ
"Kevin and Karin" wrote in message ...
Hi All,
I've just finished (well nearly) my little pond. 12'x4'x2'deep with a cute little waterfall coming from a raised bed and a filter box behind that. At last I understand the staisfaction of creating something that looks great. A local frog has laready given the pond his approval by moving in ad we've already had visits from a local Heron (boo!). My cat thinks all his Christmases have come at once.

One brief question. Is it a little too late to be thinking about putting fish in this year. Nothing special just a few goldfish and the like to entertain my daughter....and the cat!

Thanks
Kevin