# If you dig a hole in soil and fill it with water, will fish eventually appear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022 "2004-12-28T23:26:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/21 "2004-12-29T00:35:21Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > There are, In Death Valley I think, fish that hibernate in dried up pond mud until it rains. Also frogs, but they’re somewhere else. Technically, dormancy in summertime is called “estivation” not “hibarnation.” That is the usual term applied to animals who behave as you’ve described. Yes, if you dig a hole in soil and fill it with water… as long as the water has sufficient oxygenation, the odds are quite high that eventually an ecosystem will develop. Sooner or later a fish or fish egg will find its way into it via flooding or another animal. ---
**Author:** ![ancientmariner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@ancientmariner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ancientmariner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/22 "2004-12-29T00:35:45Z")
I can only imagine the stench emanating from that tank must have been massive! lol ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/23 "2004-12-29T00:38:49Z")
I’d say it’s inevitable. As others noted, birds can carry fish eggs. It can also [rain fish.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3582802.stm) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/24 "2004-12-29T00:42:25Z")
Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. Oh, yeah. And be careful with crossbows. You can put an eye out. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![ancientmariner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@ancientmariner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ancientmariner)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/25 "2004-12-29T00:43:09Z")
thanks guys, i think that pretty much sums it up! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/26 "2004-12-29T00:48:07Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’d say it’s inevitable. As others noted, birds can carry fish eggs. It can also [rain fish.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3582802.stm) I saw it rain frogs (tree frogs, I was told) near Shafter, CA about 25 yrs ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/27 "2004-12-29T01:01:44Z")
Regarding **NattoGuy** ’s observation about oxygenation, without any inlet our outlet for flowing water in this discrete pond, wouldn’t you have to at least have some aquatic plantlife for fish to survive? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/28 "2004-12-29T01:27:22Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Don’t feel bad. There are some people on another (mercifully buried) thread who believe that fat can spontaneously (thanks, jj. :)) appear on your body. :smack: That’s probably just those Fadkin’s dieters-- it’s ok, they’re special. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/29 "2004-12-29T01:34:24Z")
Our neighbor dug a small pond and did not stock it. Within a year, he had fingerling size catfish “appear”, although he had not added any fish to his pond yet. Curious, he phoned LSU’s agriculture department and was told that almost all ponds in our neck of the woods have catfish because birds eat the catfish eggs, then fly to another pond and poop them in or near the pond, where they hatch and thrive. Same goes for bream and bass. Interesting side note - once he discovered the catfish he trained them to come to the top and side of the pond where he stood when he clapped rapidly. He did this by clapping and then putting feed for them into the water. Neat trick that used to thrill the kids 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/30 "2004-12-29T01:53:49Z")
> [@Adoptamom\_II](#): > > Our neighbor dug a small pond and did not stock it. Within a year, he had fingerling size catfish “appear”, although he had not added any fish to his pond yet. Curious, he phoned LSU’s agriculture department and was told that almost all ponds in our neck of the woods have catfish because birds eat the catfish eggs, then fly to another pond and poop them in or near the pond, where they hatch and thrive. Same goes for bream and bass. > > Interesting side note - once he discovered the catfish he trained them to come to the top and side of the pond where he stood when he clapped rapidly. He did this by clapping and then putting feed for them into the water. Neat trick that used to thrill the kids 🙂 I am from Lousiana too and this has been exactly my experience. We had a pond dug on our property and it didn’t even take a year for it to be fully stocked with bream and catfish. Nobody stocks bream as far as I know so they definetly got there by natural means. I am finding it hard to believe that people doubt that fish appear in ponds without being stocked. Almost any pond or lake deep in the woods will have fish in it as long as it is habitable even if they are not connected to any other water sources. You can argue about the timescale or the size of the hold needed but it is inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/31 "2004-12-29T14:25:41Z")
Another thing I’ve heard from “old people” is that some birds carry fish eggs on their feet. Don’t know if that’s plausible, but I have heard old people who believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/32 "2004-12-29T14:39:22Z")
This only lends credence to the theory that the stork brings human babies. Thanks very much. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/33 "2004-12-29T14:48:54Z")
Maybe I need to check that box of old rags I left in the basement to see if any rats have spontaneously appeared yet… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/34 "2004-12-29T15:54:29Z")
How long will it take for bluefin tuna to appear? Do I need to add salt first? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/35 "2004-12-29T16:40:30Z")
> [@Terrorcotta](#): > > Maybe I need to check that box of old rags I left in the basement to see if any rats have spontaneously appeared yet… That’s not so far from the old belief that rotting meat generated maggots and flies. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/36 "2004-12-29T18:04:47Z")
> [@Ringo](#): > > Regarding **NattoGuy** ’s observation about oxygenation, without any inlet our outlet for flowing water in this discrete pond, wouldn’t you have to at least have some aquatic plantlife for fish to survive? Depends on the total surface area of the pond compared to the total mass of fish in it. There is some gas exchange with the air. In a stagnant pond, you’re also likely to get moss and/or algae, both of which generate oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/37 "2004-12-29T20:21:26Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > I know someone who had a moderately sized private pond built (I’d say it was probably around 3 acres in size or so) and without any action on his part he found some small fish in it after time. > > He eventually stocked it with some fish himself, but there was no connection to a stream or any tributary around the pond and fish did appear in it without his doing. I suspect you might be mistaken about whether there is a tributary or stream attached. Even an overflow runoff ditch would suffice to allow small fish to reach the pond in wet weather. My dad, a country boy who built many ponds over his lifetime, always claimed that fish would find their way into a pond without human assistance. But then I noticed that two ponds on our property which were disconnected from tributaries and had no outlets grew stagnant and did not seem to support any life. On the other hand, ponds that were created in the path of preexisting tributaries (even tributaries which were only wet-weather ditches) somehow managed to become infected with life. My conclusion was that the fry were swimming upstream to these ponds when the weather allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/38 "2004-12-29T20:25:25Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > Another thing I’ve heard from “old people” is that some birds carry fish eggs on their feet. Don’t know if that’s plausible, but I have heard old people who believe it. Yeah, my dad subscribed to the “birds carrying fish eggs on their feet” school of rural wisdom. I never bought it, though. Otherwise, fish would have appeared in all of our ponds, not just the ones attached to tributaries/ditches. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/39 "2004-12-29T21:01:01Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > That’s not so far from the old belief that rotting meat generated maggots and flies. Are you implying that it isn’t true? Down here in Florida, run-off ponds usually contain fish that have not been planted, or stocked, or what have you. I buy the egss on birds, eggs in birds, whatever theory. A plentitude of these ponds also contain at least one alligator, but no one ever sees them arive. I doubt birds bring them. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022/40 "2004-12-29T21:15:39Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Are you implying that it isn’t true? > > Down here in Florida, run-off ponds usually contain fish that have not been planted, or stocked, or what have you. I buy the egss on birds, eggs in birds, whatever theory. A plentitude of these ponds also contain at least one alligator, but no one ever sees them arive. I doubt birds bring them. Except, you know, that alligators are perfectly capable of going overland to the next pond. Even in the middle of the night when nobody’s around TO see them arrive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dig-a-hole-in-soil-and-fill-it-with-water-will-fish-eventually-appear/282022.md?page=3)