Past Featured News

On the front page of our website, we offer some featured news, sales, tips, and other information for customers to see when they visit the website. As the seasons change and the needs of fish and ponds change, we change what information is on the front page to be the most relevant to you at the current time.

If you want to view anything from the past that we added to the website, this is the page to do it. As the featured news is retired, we add it to this page. There are a lot of tips and tricks you can read in here. Each month is highlighted so you can quickly navigate to a certain month. Everything is labeled by date and year.

If you have any questions on anything you see in here, even if it doesn’t pertain to the current season, give us a call! We’re happy to help with any questions you have.

Fender’s Fish Hatchery 740-622-0681

Steve Fender’s cell 740-502-5454

APRIL 15th, 2019

Spring has sprung, and now is the time when we start to get calls from customers with cabin fever who are eager to stock their ponds. You’re in luck, as we are now fully stocked, so you can stop by anytime during business hours to pick up any number of fish for your pond or lake.

You should start using your muck reducers and pond cleaners now. It is also a good time to keep your eye out for bacterial gill disease in your bluegill. If you notice anything going on in your pond that doesn’t seem right, give us a call at the Hatchery and we will help you any away we can.

We had a winter this year much like our last winter, and last spring we got a lot of calls from customers who had issues with springtime vegetation because the winter didn’t give a good layer of ice and snow to kill the vegetation from the previous year.

You may also notice problems with bacterial gill diseases in blue gill because of the stress caused by the blue gill not getting pushed completely into dormancy with the mild winter temperatures. These kinds of things we can help you with in both prevention and maintenance, so give the hatchery a call if you are ever experiencing a problem.

Call the Hatchery any time at 740-622-0681. Calling is not necessary to stop in but if you plan to make a large order, you might want to give us a call and make sure we have enough stock.

 

December 27, 2018

We are currently open by chance and appointment only December through February. We will open back up officially when the ice goes off in the spring (and this message will disappear from our website). We are always available for phone calls. consultations, purchasing items such as fish food, windmills and other non-fish items, so if you need anything give us a call! – Fender’s

September 24, 2018

Fall is here, and the weather is cooling down, so that means we are starting to get orders for walleyes, small mouth and trout. As soon as the water gets cold enough we will start running these species. We also plan to have pike and tiger muskie for sale as well. Everything depends on the weather and the supply. Call and place your orders now, as we are placing our orders for these fish according to demand.

Fall brings the perfect opportunity to stock new species in the colder weather, so don’t miss out on this opportunity! Once we finish our fall stocking, we will not have fish available until the spring.

If your pond is an acre or less in size, you may find that you need to restock perch or crappie periodically, as reproduction survival rates are smaller in these size ponds. Cold months like the fall are perfect for this, as the water reaches temps below 60 and the larger predator fish won’t aggressively feed on your fingerling fish stock.

We are always open six days a week, and you can call us at 740-622-0681 anytime if you have questions about your fish or ponds, even if we didn’t stock them.

If you don’t have aeration or a spring feeding your pond during the winter, you could experience a winter fish kill. We have multiple options for aeration such as windmills, fountains and more, so talk to us if you aren’t sure what is the best for your pond.

Keep an eye on our calendar as the season is nearing its end, so we are finishing up our County SWCD visits and pond clinics. Have a great fall! Steve

June 9, 2018

TILAPIA ARE IN!! We have tilapia at the hatchery. These tropical fish won’t survive our winters, but they’re great vegetation eaters and good to pull out at the end of the summer and fry up. Come on down/up/over and pick some up today!

Hi, Steve Fender here. It’s spring, which means it’s time to get in gear with your pond or lake. Springtime stocks with new species or adding to old stocks to keep certain species going will work best when the water is cold, like it will be for the next couple of months. As I write this article it is the first of the month of March, and it will take us a few weeks to get a full inventory in the building.

You should think about getting good bacteria in the pond to slow the growth of the vegetation this coming session, and if you don’t have any aeration currently you need to check out the systems we offer for this. Aeration is a good way to keep your pond clean and your fish healthy. Call me any time, and I will be glad to fill you in on the details of this.

We have trout on the farm right now ready to go, and they will survive in any cold pond as long as you have a cold spring feeding your pond. You should try to catch them out before the warm season starts.

Watch for any sick or dead adult blue gill, this is the time of the year when we start to get calls from pond owners that are having problems with bacterial gill disease in their fish. If you see anything like this happening, call me so we can help keep your fish from dying.

Check out our calendar for when we will be in your area for fish days at County SWCD offices and for dates when I will be speaking at pond clinics. See you this spring! Steve

September 3, 2017

It’s getting cooler, and that means before the ponds freeze over, it’s time for fall stocking. We have walleye, pike and muskie available for purchase. We are also going to start handling hybrid striped bass soon. We’re open six days a week! Call us with any questions at 740-622-0681.

We are in the fall now, and as the water temperatures drop the opportunity to stock new varieties of fish arise. Around the first of October we start to sell trout. Trout need the cold water to survive and most of the ponds in Ohio don’t have strong enough springs feeding them to support trout all year, so pond owners will want to stock in the fall with adult fish and harvest for the next seven months.

If you have a pond that is an acre or less and you have stocked perch or crappie, you may not see any reproduction survival and probably need to restock periodically. The cold months like fall and spring are perfect for restocking. When the water cools down to 60 degrees and below, the large predator fish are not as aggressively feeding so stocking with fingerling fish becomes more practical.

We have been lucky weather wise the last two years but that can change. If you have a pond that doesn’t have a spring feeding it all winter long, and we have two or more months of below freezing temps with no break, you could have a winter kill, and aeration will prevent this from happening. If you have any questions concerning winter kill, call me (Steve) at 740-502-5454 and I will be glad to help!

May 26, 2017

We experimented with adding Tilapia to our fish we stock and sell last year, and had a lot of good interest, so it is back here again this year.These fish aren’t just great for your standard large ponds but work well in little garden ponds, and will help keep the vegetation at bay and provide forage for all your gaming fish. They compliment any fish in any sized pond.

We sell tilapia for three reasons:

  1. The females will spawn every three weeks, which provides a lot of extra forage for fish in the pond, allowing your fish to grow quicker and give more opportunity for game fish to survive bigger numbers and become bigger fish.
  2. A lot of customers appreciate the tilapia because it is an instant gratification fish for vegetation control, as tilapia like really soft housing, duckweed and watermeal, so in situations where there is a lot of vegetation they will cut it down quick and work really well for vegetation control.
  3. At the end of the summer before it gets too cold for them to survive, they make a good eating fish, so pull out the rods and the grill and cook you up some delicious tilapia while the nights are still warm!

If you have any questions or want pricing, give us a call at the hatchery at 740-622-0681. We are handling the tilapia for the entire month of June and half of July, so they won’t be here long. Get them while you can.

April 26, 2017

A notice to our Pennsylvania customers:

If you want to purchase white amur (grass carp), we can sell to the state of Pennsylvania as we are certified to sell in Pennsylvania but it is required by law for Pennsylvania residents to have permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources before you can purchase from us. Whether you come to the hatchery to pick it up, pick up at a SWCD or otherwise, you will need to present this permit before you purchase the amur from us. We are not selling game fish in Pennsylvania at this time, as we do not have a permit for game fish out of state at this time.

April 10, 2017

A notice to our out of state customers

If you intend to stock water that is not in Ohio, please call us before you make a trip to our hatchery. To transport fish across the state line from one state to another, there are special permits and certifications you will need. To violate these laws may put both you and us in violation of the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act defines the law pertaining to the transportation of live animals or fish, in this case, between states. To be in violation of this federal law means thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees and possible jail time.

We value our customers and wish to keep everyone on the right side of the law. Our phone number is 740-622-0681 and we are always here if you have questions about what you can transport.

April 2, 2017

***LIMITED TIME***

We have about ten of these gorgeous goldfish in stock, and they are the perfect addition to any pond. Come down and get them! Call in to make sure there are still some left, as they are going fast. 740-622-0681. They are $20.00 each.

March 6, 2017

Spring has sprung, and now is the time when we start to get calls from customers with cabin fever who are eager to stock their ponds. You’re in luck, as we are now fully stocked, so you can stop by anytime during business hours to pick up any number of fish for your pond or lake.

You should start using your muck reducers and pond cleaners now. It is also a good time to keep your eye out for bacterial gill disease in your bluegill. If you notice anything going on in your pond that doesn’t seem right, give us a call at the Hatchery and we will help you any away we can.

We had a winter this year much like our last winter, and last spring we got a lot of calls from customers who had issues with springtime vegetation because the winter didn’t give a good layer of ice and snow to kill the vegetation from the previous year.

You may also notice problems with bacterial gill diseases in blue gill because of the stress caused by the blue gill not getting pushed completely into dormancy with the mild winter temperatures. These kinds of things we can help you with in both prevention and maintenance, so give the hatchery a call if you are ever experiencing a problem.

Call the Hatchery any time at 740-622-0681. Calling is not necessary to stop in but if you plan to make a large order, you might want to give us a call and make sure we have enough stock.

December 24, 2016

We would like to take the time to give a very merry holiday wish to all of our past and future customers. You all make being in the fish business worth it. Spend time with your family and friends and be safe over the Christmas and New Years holidays.

December 3, 2016

To all of the customers that purchased fountains from us, now is the time to pull them out, clean them up and put them in a bucket of water somewhere so they won’t freeze. For customers that need the fountain to prevent water kill, clean them up and reinstall them with their wintertime nozzle.

If you don’t have a wintertime nozzle, call us to get one purchased before the water starts to freeze up. Winter is approaching, and the first freeze is right around the corner, so be proactive and get this done ASAP! If you have any trouble or need any tips, you can give us a call at the hatchery and we will help you along.

November 16, 2016

The Hatchery still has walleye and northern pike left in the fall stock, so make sure you call ASAP if you want to pick some of those up before the season closes.

If you plan to do any stocking for the fall yet, set it with us before we close for the winter! Once ponds freeze over our doors are shut, so make sure to give us a call ASAP and schedule a pickup. We have all our regulars for the season in stock as well.

Call the Hatchery any time at 740-622-0681 to let us know you’re coming down.