my pond is a raised one so we dont have a problem with herons. do you get herons in your area? the decoy heron that you stand close by is a good deterrent as they are solitary fishermen and dont like competition.

Unless you have expensive koi carp in your pond I wouldn't net, it really detracts from the effect.

Dear Seaburngirl,
thank you for your reply, My pond is in the ground, not raised, I will be on the look out for a decoy heron, to try this. There are herons close by, I live a stones throw from a canal, and they can be seen there often.
thanks again.
regards
Jo :)

Thanks Moon growe,
think I will leave it off, I'm not a lover of the net.
fingers crossed!!!
I'll keep you posted!
regards
Jo x

The other alternative is simply not to have fish, we gave up between the heron and our own cats fishing for them.

i havea pagoda over my 2000 gallon pond so the heron generaly cant see the pond from high up when they are on the hunt . my pond is raised to but its erelevent . you can get alarms that are silent to your ears but realy noisy to the heron as there realy shye . trouble is if you havea liner the heron can puncture and ruin the pond . the other benefits of a pagoda is you get clear water all the time . i have split bamboo on a roll on top of the pagoda rolled out with a grapevine growing over it . this also stops so much stuff being dropped in the pond .

I do not have a net and my fish were 12 years old last January. We see the occasional Heron sitting on the roof and I heard plastic windmills frighten Herons so I have one beside mine.

Don't bother getting a plastic heron as it doe'snt work.. I have pictures of the heron fishing for our fish next to the plastic one.. Must admit not to liking netting either so we put up with losing the occasional fish.. and running around shouting like lounies whenever we see the heron ..

Depends whether you want beauty or long life for the fish, mine is netted and yes it spoils the effect but some of our fish are over 30 yrs old and very tame, if they see a shadow they think food so come up for dinner, I`d rather not feed the cats or herons out of my pond, if I want a photo I lift the frame but always replace it....

Another deterrent you can try is to put up a low post and cord line around the pond about a foot or so high and a couple of feet from the water's edge. This prevents the heron from being able to fly in to land. I'm not sure I have the measurements quite right- you may be able to check somewhere.

My pond is netted at night and when we're not around during the day. I have lost 20 fish to the heron in 7 years and only have one of my original stock left. I am rather attached to them as all but 1 were born in the pond. They are very tame and I hate to lose them but worse still is if they get away from the heron and are injured. I then have to try and nurse them back to health. :(
I also net the pond from Autumn through to Spring as we have 3 large oak trees within 100yds of the boundary. It's almost a full time job just keeping the waterfall free of oak leaves and I can't net that as the birds queue up to drink and bathe there.