My friend and I rescued 41 Sierra Brookies (fingerlings) from a 3'x2'x6" shrinking pond in a dried up stream last week. Amazing that they had enough oxygen to survive with that many fish in such a small space. With no rain in sight, they surely would have died in a couple of days. We moved them 1 or 2 at a time to the nearby lake.
We couldn't see them well because they were hiding under an overhang in the riverbank. Plus, the water was murky from us stirring up the bottom. Have any idea how hard it is to catch a fish with cooking pot when you can't even see them? Let me tell you, they are slippery little buggers. It took us about 2 hours to fish them out with a cook pot and net that we made from the gear loft from our tent. It was a fun challenge though and it felt satisfying to do our good deed for the day!