Where have all our fish gone?

[Tangofandango]

My mum has a fairly large garden pond which is stocked with several goldfish. They have been in the pond for at least 10 years. My stepfather always looked after the pond/fish and was very knowledgable. However, sadly he died last September so mum and I are trying to carry on his hobby and look after the fish.

We didn't feed them through the winter months, as per SF's routine. Started to feed them about 6 weeks ago and they were all happily coming to the surface and taking the food. But then one day 2 or 3 weeks ago they stopped coming to the top and we haven't seen sight of any of them.

Is this normal? Could it be the weather conditions aren't right for them yet and they're staying in the deeper water? Are they staying down to spawn? There's a net over the water so they can't have been taken by a heron.

We are mystified. Does anyone have any idea why they aren't coming up?Thanks in advance.

[EauRouge]

Do you have any floating plants? this gives them some protection from predators so helps them feel more secure about being at the surface. this time of year a lot of plants might not have grown up much yet.

any cats locally or a visiting heron? those woild be the prime suspects. metal grating over the pond would protect the fish.

you mentioned the weather, has there been a late frost or something?

[EauRouge]

sorry, just seen that I missed the heron bit. a net will provide some protection but if it's nylon then a heron can tear it. Fish will hide if they see a heron, even if it can't get them.

[WhenMarnieWasThere]

We had our pond, with our lovely mature and big fish, raided by a heron. Devastating. We came back to find no fish in the pond and a few lone shredded bits of fin left as evidence. :(

We didn't have a net though.

[Tangofandango]

There is a net over the pond and there is a rockery all around the pond, SF always said a heron needed room to walk up to the pond, they don't just land, so he built it to make that pretty much impossible.

The weather here has been very cold and very windy, I wondered if that would make them hide away. There are several plants in the pond with lots of leaf cover.

[ToffeePenny]

Could anything get under the net? We had a visit from an otter 2 years ago and it took the lot (at least 100 large fish) over 2 nights.

[EauRouge]

Yes, they will hide in cold weather. It sounds like everything else is secure so maybe they'll make an appearance again when the sun comes out.

[Tangofandango]

Thanks for replies, next week is supposed to be warmer so hopefully they will come out of hiding.