Interactive lesson

Fry and spawning, step by step

Interactive lesson: when to buy fingerlings and when to spawn your own — broodstock, tench in the pond, carp on grass, a nursery pond and trout eggs.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Fry and spawning module. Already bought? Unlock

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The whole lesson as text

1. Buy or spawn

Spawning is easy; the hard part is feeding and protecting the tiny fry for the first six weeks.

  1. Buy in the first years — For the first 2–3 years buy fingerlings. Start spawning your own once the pond works.
  2. A second, small pond — Start spawning once you have two ponds: the main one and a small one of 50–150 m² for fry. In a pond with big fish, fry don't survive.
  3. A third for carp — Carp also need a very small pond just for spawning, the spawning pond. It is dry for most of the year.
  4. Certificate for selling — Moving, selling and giving away live fish, fry and eggs need a health certificate and often registration. Check with the fish health authority.

Why: A five-kilogram female carp carries half a million eggs, but in nature only a few dozen of a thousand larvae are left by autumn. So for most small homesteads buying fingerlings is still the smartest choice.

  • Spawning your own makes sense when you have several ponds, when you want your own line or when the nearest fish farm is far away.
  • If goldfish are in the pond, they spawn first.

2. Broodstock

Broodstock are sexually mature fish chosen for spawning.

  1. Choose in autumn — At the autumn harvest choose fast-growing, healthy fish that are calm when handled. Female carp 3–6 kg, male 2–4 kg.
  2. Female or male — In spring a female carp has a round, soft belly. Gentle pressure on a male's belly gives white milt.
  3. How many broodstock — For one spawning pond 1–2 female and 3–4 male carp are enough. Keep at least one female and two males in reserve.
  4. Apart from March — Keep females and males apart from March until spawning. Otherwise they spawn on their own in the main pond and all the fry are lost.

Why: Choose the best fish from the autumn harvest: fast-growing, healthy, well shaped, without sores or deformities. Don't reuse broodstock that gave weak, deformed or sick fry.

  • Replace broodstock every 4–6 years with fish from another source, to avoid inbreeding.
  • In spring feed them well, with more protein, but don't fatten them.

3. Tench spawning · Locked

Buy the Fry and spawning module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 27 steps.

4. Carp on grass · Locked

Buy the Fry and spawning module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 27 steps.

5. Larvae and nursery pond · Locked

Buy the Fry and spawning module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 27 steps.

6. Trout eggs · Locked

Buy the Fry and spawning module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 27 steps.