If you are in zone 9, Winter won't kill them. How big is your pond? You might be able to use a minnow trap but the mesh may to big to catch the babies.

buy a bluegill... which will eat the mosquito fish... but then you might have to buy a larger fish... to eat the bluegill.... and on and on....

until your neighborhood is overrun by the radioactive gorillas that you bought to take care of the tigers :) (simpsons)

but in all seriousness... i have no idea

Maybe I should get a really big net, maybe like a pool net and try scooping them up...

I've seen and used a minnow trap made out of a couple 2-liter soda bottles that worked quite well - maybe throw one or two of those in the pond overnight and see how it works out for you. Could also go with 3-liter bottles instead since the mouth opening is larger.

I will do that... Though I wish I had never put them in...

nevermore- HA!

Me too, annaca- I have tried everything to catch my hundreds of mosquito fish with minimal luck - mostly catch only the babies. Seems like the older they get the smarter they are (just like me! :) I have finally decided that when my last 4 goldies die, I will drain and clean the pond and start all over again, WITHOUT any Gambusia.
New ponders: beware of them! Min

Here's a link to instructions on how to make a minnow trap out of 2-liter bottles.

John

I'll post later on how the minnow trap works out...

Thanks every one...

Why is this a problem?

When I need to net my fish I drain out most of the water and go fishing with a net. This is a good way to do it if you need to do a full clean-out. I haven't done it with gambusia, but any fish is easier to net in less water.

Gosh, I love those teeny critters & they sure do multiply! They winter over fine with the goldies in my 250 gal. pond here in zone 7. It freezes over in winter but I always keep a hole open in the top ice. Like 'poppa'... why do you all want to get rid of the mosquito eating minnows? They are live-bearing & I bet my goldies eat a lot of the new born too as they are SO tiny!

I ordered these fish last year ,the people said you have to have a minimum order of like 30.00 I said no thanks,glad I didnt get them,,they look like guppysWhat I dont want in small pond I throw in farm pond.Blue gills,cats,striped bass,swans..

The reason I dont like them is that they have literally taken over my pond... I would love to put a few goldfish in, but considering the number of mosquito fish in there, I am not sure if my pond can handle the addition of goldfish... and the pond of my dreams is not the one filled with mosquito fish :( ....

That is good to know, keithw... Maybe I shouldn't panic either...

The bluegill (or any other sunfish) idea really is a good one. It will take care of your problems and be a nice addition to your pond at the same time.

Dont count on winter killing them. If you look at their distribution on a map you will see they survive quite well in some very cold areas.

Yankee Dog

Put large mouth or small mouth bass in the pond. They will clear those little invasives out with no hesitation, catfish will also clear them out. Any other sport fish such as

blue gill

bass (largemouth or small mouth)

perch

pickerel

cat fish

Did you realize that this post is nearly 6 years old?