Thriving Sanger farm raising fish for almost 40 years

SANGER, Calif. (KFSN) -- J and J Aquafarms in Sanger has been raising fish for almost 40 years.

John Young helps stock local lakes and ponds.

"Our main fish is channel catfish, and then we have largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, carp, minnows, goldfish," he said.

To learn more about the farm, I put on waders and got in a good workout helping Mark Cochrum pull the large net with both floats and weights.

It's difficult to wade through the water dragging all that weight.

If you've ever tried to grab a catfish, you know they are slippery when wet.

The pond was full of catfish, crappie and bluegill ready to be caught.

"We've been having fishing camp for Fresno Unified for the past three years," Young said. "We've also done Visalia Unified."

Some of the bigger catfish weigh more than 20 pounds.

"The initial thought was to provide restaurants and some of the bigger markets in LA and San Francisco," Young said. "As we developed our own markets, it became developing stocking for local ponds and lakes."

Sometimes, folks who come up empty on a fishing trip give him a call.

"Yeah, we get fishermen coming by to grab a few fish for their stringers," Young said.

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