Even as a child, I remember scooping out a hole in a sandbox in the creek, it would fill with water, then I would capture creek minnows to stock my tiny pond.
Wyatt LeFever’s grandfather
I was extremely fortunate to have been raised by my grandparents. My grandfather was very interested in bullfrogs as tablefare and also with the hope of raising them commercially. He bought some cheap swamp land and, by the use of a mule and scraper, built a few small ponds for his bullfrogs. Of course, the ponds had to be fenced, but the big problem was feeding them. Frogs will only eat live food such as crickets, small fish, etc. To provide the live food, goldfish were purchased with the hope that they would reproduce and provide food for the bullfrogs. To make a long story short, there were thousands of goldfish eventually, but few bullfrogs. This actually turned out fine, as there was a local ready market for the surplus goldfish. In those days, there were many dime store chains, and they all sold goldfish. Back then, goldfish had to be shipped in one-gallon milk cans with only 100 or 125 fish. Shipping in large metal cans with a 5 lb. block of ice on top. There was no tropical fish industry at this time.
Eventually, my grandfather, with the help of his sons who had returned from duty in World War II, developed a nice business delivering goldfish to the dime stores and the uncolored goldfish to bait dealers from a livestock truck.
Of course, bottom land had to be acquired, and many large ponds had to be built to produce goldfish on a commercial basis.
Wyatt, on the left, as a boy at Berry Water Gardens
I was probably 10 or 12 years old at the time. I was extremely fascinated by everything that was going on. I was particularly interested in raising the live fish that were needed for the business. This was eventually my job at my grandfather’s “Berry Water Gardens,” which was the name of the company.
In those days, the growing of all kinds of fish on a commercial basis was just getting started. There was hardly any help or information available. I will never forget seeing whole ponds of fish being devastated by fish lice or anchor worms. There was nothing we could do as we had no chemical or drugs that we could use. I remember having to rake the mosses and weeds out of the ponds so as not to attract the predacious insects that fed on our fish. We even had to make our own dip nets. Nowadays, there is all manner of information, drugs, chemicals, and equipment available.
Berry Water Gardens eventually evolved into a full-line wholesaler, delivering goldfish, tropical fish, snails, supplies, and food to pet shops and chain stores covering 10 states and employing over 50 people, reaching its peak in the early ’70s.
It was during this time that I established Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery on land owned by my in-laws. I was still working for Berry Water Gardens full time. I had only six ¼ acre ponds to start with and raised mostly shiners that were sold to Berry’s. I also raised some goldfish. Sometime around 1965, I ordered 300 3” koi from Japan. I was one of the first people in the country to import and raise koi commercially. Due to shipping losses from Japan, predation, and mistakes I made during the 3 years that it took to grow them to breeding size, I had only 3 fish left. Luckily, I had 1 male and 2 females. I was successful in spawning them, and I was very excited.
My elation turned to disappointment when no one wanted to buy them. No one knew what they were.
Berry Water Gardens eventually went out of business as the dime stores closed due to a changing market. This allowed me to concentrate on Blue Ridge.
I was fortunate enough to have a son, Randy, and my kid brother, Rick, who was very interested in becoming involved in Blue Ridge. The rest is history.
Our customers discovered the value of koi, [and] the water garden industry started to boom. The demand for koi was great. We endeavored to meet the need for quality koi and goldfish for over 30 years.
Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery has since grown into the nation’s largest supplier of quality garden pond livestock, covering over 100 acres of ponds.
It has been very gratifying that my passion for ornamental fish led to a very exciting and successful career.
Wyatt LeFever
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