Description: North star Fish Hatchery in Iowa, fish stocking of lakes and ponds. We supply whole fish to other fish hatcheries in the Midwest. Baby perch, walleye, baby bluegills, baby grass carp, and more fingerlings are available.
fishing (6671) ponds (423) carp (352) catfish (249) perch (100) hatchery (46) fingerlings (13) walleyes (12) bluegills (2) ish hatcheries (1)
When a group of Iowa State University engineering students came to observe Arlo Hinegardner in 1939, he was leading two teams of horses hitched to a plow. He was not preparing for planting season; instead he was in the process of building a lake by constructing a dam across a deep ravine near Montour, Iowa. After surveying the situation, the engineering students reached a consensus that the project would never be successful. In fact, they went so far as to say he was sure to fail.
A surprise to many, the result of his year of work was a 70-acre lake. Stocked with several varieties of fish, Sportsman Lake, open for public fishing in 1944, charging successful fishermen 30 cents per pound. The success of this endeavor encouraged Arlo to build more fish ponds, raising fish and stocking the ponds and lakes of neighbors. Word spread and the business grew to become on the state’s first fish hatcheries in Iowa.
A life-long entrepreneur, Arlo was a pioneer in privately operated fish hatcheries in the mid-west. According to grandson Todd, "he was a man before his time".