What are the negative aspects?
I'm being serious. I know that discovering these "trash fish" in a pond can cause some owners to consider using Rotenone and starting over, but I can't come up with a good reason why. Most pondmeisters are at least very disappointed if these large mouthed Lepomis show up their ponds.
Stunting: I can't imagine how this could be a viable reason because all Sunfish will stunt if they're not managed. Besides, even if they did stunt how is that a problem in a LMB fishery? I think most people agree that LMB prefer WM/GSF over other Lepomis. If that's true then in most ponds they probably aren't even stunted, but instead they're eaten by LMB before they can reach good size. If, for some reason they are stunting in your LMB pond I still can't see how the LMB would mind having a supply of medium size, meaty forage fish.
Competition: I've read that WM/GSF competing with LMB for forage is a problem. To begin with, I don't think I've heard of WM/GSF overpopulating in a pond with managed LMB. Small Warmouth/Green Sunfish will certainly compete with similar sized LMB for forage, but eventually they will be preyed on by the large LMB, providing more substantial forage for these larger fish than several small fish would. In other words, the W/G concentrate small forage into one substantial forage fish that LMB prefer. I wonder what's easier for a LMB to catch, a 6" LMB or a 6" W/G.
I've also read that W/G compete with BG, which the author stated was a problem. If you're managing for LMB what's the differance which Lepomis the LMB are eating? Again, don't we agree that LMB even prefer W/G?
Fecundity: "They breed like rabbits" is one comment I read. Isn't that the exact reason we stock BG into a LMB pond? Also, I think the data shows that they actually reproduce less than BG. Maybe people are thinking of situations where W/G are isolated in unmanaged waters which don't have larger predators present. Like any Sunfish, they will overpopulate and stunt in that scenario, but we're talking about carefully managed ponds.
What am I failing to see about this?
