My poor fish

[selfraising]

I don't have a big pond so only had 7 fish in there, mainly goldfish. Only two have surfaced so far. I am beginning to think the local heron has had the rest Most of the pond is netted but I just can't see any more fish. I'm gonna have to have a re-think about protecting the pond. The goldfish had just got to a nice size as well.

[Two_Sheds]

It's still early, not all of them have finished hibernating yet (only one of my three has ventured up from the depths)

I just checked on another site, and I shouldn't be feeding them until the water warms up - early April.

[selfraising]

I did wonder about that Two Sheds. I don't usually feed them 'til April either Just thought as the other two were up, the rest might be with them. Perhaps I'll hang on for a bit longer.

[blackkitty]

I was convinced that the heron had got all mine but they were hiding in a dark corner and have since come up, so hopefully yours will too.

[selfraising]

I was convinced that the heron had got all mine but they were hiding in a dark corner and have since come up, so hopefully yours will too.

Oh thanks, I do hope so. I've caught him in the mornings eyeing up the pond but I'm hoping the fish were clever enough to keep near the bottom or at least out of sight.

[dogsbody]

I never feed my fish, Rudd and tench, it is supposed to be a wildlife pond so in theory there shouldn't be any fish. despite that they breed almost faster than the frogs!

[Stacey Steve]

To keep the herons and cats off my pond, I ended up building a pegola over it.

Look who was hiding in the pond balls!

[HayleyB]

Herons are territorial and a plastic heron is meant to deter them, have no idea if it works though.

[selfraising]

Thanks everyone. I have just bought this product called Netfloat which are basically black plastic netted rings that you cut to the shape of your pond and around plants and interlink. They sit just beneath the surface of the pond and appear to be a bit less unsightly than netting. So gonna give this a try.

[blackkitty]

We have a plastic heron and I don't think it makes the slightest difference. You're supposed to move them every few days which we do but have still had a heron eyeing things up. We eventually accepted the inevitable and have netted the pond, we suspended the netting on lines so its about a foot off the ground and the sides are open to still allow the frogs and newts access. I don't think heron's can feed sideways
WE watched one once land on the garage behind the pond and then hide behind the conifer when it realised we were watching. It came out several times to see if we were still there and finally gave up and flew off.

[selfraising]

We have a plastic heron and I don't think it makes the slightest difference. You're supposed to move them every few days which we do but have still had a heron eyeing things up. We eventually accepted the inevitable and have netted the pond, we suspended the netting on lines so its about a foot off the ground and the sides are open to still allow the frogs and newts access. I don't think heron's can feed sideways
WE watched one once land on the garage behind the pond and then hide behind the conifer when it realised we were watching. It came out several times to see if we were still there and finally gave up and flew off.

Yes I'm afraid I have to agree with you about the plastic heron. Next door but one have one in their garden but the fish are still being taken by the real heron. They are quite bold.

[Pickle]

If I'm not mistaken herons can't land in water. They land on the edge of the pond and then wade in. My parents used to really struggle with herons until they put fishing line around the pond on little stakes about a 12-18inches high. As I understand it the herons can't step over it and because they can't land in the water if you place the fishing line just far enough away from the edge of the pond so they can't lean over it they can't reach the fish to eat them. My parents don't have a problem now.
You can't really see the fishing line yourself so may be another option to netting the whole pond.

[selfraising]

Pickle, I never knew that, what a great idea!

[simonb6714]

We tried a fake heron and it didnt work at all, ended up giving it to our nephew to put in his garden since he loves animals. Netting worked to keep the herons out although we didnt like having to look through it to see our koi. A while back we got a fake floating alligator head as a gift after complaining about the netting to friends and its worked no missing fish so far. There are some good tips on using them here: https://www.gardenandpatiohomeguide....r-decoy-guide/ Although I think ours is actually a crocodile but it works for the herons here so I'm not complaining. Haven't seen any crows in the garden for a long while either, so it might be what's been keeping them away too but could also be a coincidence.

[jools]

One of my friends has one of those electronic water guns, which is triggered by movement. That worked for quite a while, but he forgot to switch it on on one occasion and the heron took one of his prize koi. Now he has the fishing line around the edges, as Pickle mentioned.