September 7, 2021. Western Head, Nova Scotia. The Pond Man.

He is a charachter but I always enjoy talking to him. In front of his house and place of business is a large pond that stretched th full width of his lot. From the road you see bushes and trees to protect the pond from prying eyes. His only sign is on the side of a shed where he keeps supplies for the buying public. Over the years, Ken and I have bought fountains, lillies, fish food and fish. And we have talked to him. He is a gold mine of useful information about fish. Today Anna and I drove to Shelburne to meet Allan and see his ponds. And we wanted to walk the waterfront and eat lunch in Shelburne. When we arrived, his wife came from their house to help. We bought fish food for the winter so Walt could feed the fish. When Alan arrived, Anna asked if ht wa true that he had a pond. His whole place is a bit messy and she could not see a pond. He just laughed. And we followed him to the pond which was in plain view but hidden. Then it was our turn to laugh. We spent the next hour watching all those fish...and picking his brain about fish. When he throws the scoopful of feed into the water you observe a feeding frenzy. The fish come to eat. And we watch them. He has fish over two feet long and he has fish two inches. And everything in between. He has had to keep screeing all around the pond to stop the herons from eating the fish. And he has place rope across the top of the pond too. Yesterday they had a gull try to land on the pond. You could never belive that pond unless you were told about it. In addition he has a plastic covered frame, his greenhouse, where he grows and sells his fish. He sells his large fish for several hudred dollars. We ran out of time. But we enjoyed every minute. And by the way, fish do not stay the winter buried in the mud at the bottom of the pond. At 48 degrees, their metabolish slows way down and they stay all winter in the slushy water below the ice. Only eels bury themselves in mud, he told us. Set me straight. I have been telling folks that our fish survive the winter by getting to the bottom of the pond in the mud. I was wrong. Anna and I had a great time with Allan the pond man.