Recreational Catfishermen Vs. Commercial Pay-Lake Stockers

Like they say, you learn something new everyday. Where I live in the Northeast, it is illegal to transport fish from one body of water to another. Get caught doing so, and the DNR can ruin you. To the best of my knowledge, the only permits that exist to collect wild fish are issued to teachers that have classroom tanks. If you’ve got a private pond, if I’m not mistaken, you have to buy fish legally from a hatchery to stock it. What I didn’t know was that in the Midwest where pay lakes are far more popular, the owners can legally stock them with wild-caught fish.