How do i catch fish!!! "AHHHHH"

[jim]

Well ive got a problem basically ive got a smallish lovely pond (recently defished by a nice heron) full of wildlife and ive been goin down with my torch each night watchin the newts chase waterboatmen and the froglets and toads and ive suddenly discovered that its not free of fish as i thought( that blinkin heron missed about three of the bu**ers and theyre scoffin all the newt larvea, and i cant catchem with a net theyre to fast, they just zip back behind some weed. Any ideas?

 

[paris]

got a stick of TNT handy?

how big are these fish?-could you try minnow traps or seine nets?-or do you need a harpoon?

.....how are you sure the heron didnt gulp down some of the newts too?

 

[alan]

Assuming these are smooth newts, let the plants get overgrown, then they will happily coexist with fish. Same does not apply to great crested newts unfortunately.

 

[jim]

yeah they are smooth newts, the fish are 20cm long. I suppose i could use a minnow type coke bottle trap, if i made the entrance big enough but it would catch allsorts. Anyway i wont give in yet!

 

[benjamin]

You would need to make it so your trap was newt safe, so if a newt got caught in it it could breathe.

 

[joseph]

If they are that big maybe a hook and a line would work. Perhaps put something on it too big for a newt to take though. A long handled net should work if you are skilled/persistent.

Good luck! Removing fish is always frustrating.