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American Sport Fish Hatchery founders, Don Keller and Barry Smith, together have more than 80 years of experience working with largemouth bass, bluegill and other sport fish species. Smith is the former Chief of Fisheries for the state of Alabama, and Keller served as a District Biologist. Both men hold master’s degrees from Auburn University and are Certified Fisheries Scientists. Over the years, they have authored numerous articles and book chapters about sport fish management and pond and lake maintenance.
Keller and Smith established the hatchery – which lies just outside Montgomery, Ala., on 300 acres of land – in 1985. It is made up of more than 100 ponds that range in size from .5 to 5 acres, all exclusively dedicated to the production of warm-water sport fish. With five holding sheds and seven delivery trucks, American Sport Fish’s fourteen employees can easily and efficiently deliver our top-quality fish to clients throughout the Southeast.
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Seasonal Tips
Threadfin Shad Are Available Now!
 Sexually mature threadfin shad are now available from American Sport Fish Hatchery. Our hatchery ponds are full of healthy adult threadfin shad and we will begin our deliveries on June 15. These shad will spawn several times in your lake this summer. Many years ago, most of the lakes and ponds in the southeast were stocked during the summer using this technique. Most lake managers in East Texas continue to stock threadfin shad during the summer, with good success. If you are not observing schools of threadfin shad on the surface of your lake in the late afternoon, you need to add them to your lake. If you miss a threadfin shad spawn this year, you may reduce food production for your bass for the next two years.
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