Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch HBG growth.

We purchased another 100 HBG early this spring to supplement our existing population. I purposefully chose to get these fish off the traveling fish truck, rather than my usual source, just to see if they performed any differently.

They were placed into a cage at 3-4", and were fed AQ500 once a day. After 60 days, all but 10 were released into the pond, while the remainder stayed in the cage. Feeding remained the same.

Now, as my water levels have shrank, the cage has began resting against the bottom. Not good, so I decided to release the remaining 10 fish, rather than move the cage to deeper water.

All ten were within 3/4" of one another, although I didn't get any weights. Here's a photo of the biggest, a full 8".

Four inches of growth in four months. Pretty standard.

Nice looking fish, and great growth!

As you discovered HBG will "do" pretty well raising them in a cage. That fish above is probably a female. How big was your cage for 100 fish? HOw much was each fish initially? Others may want to try what you did. That is a good way to buy smaller fish and stock later to minimize predation from LMB. Good job. They should be "dandy" sized fish in 2-3 yrs. Keep us advised as to their progresss.

My cages are 4' in diameter, with a depth of 4' also. I have two hatcheries that I normally get my HBG from, and usually get 3-4" fish. This year, I decided to try the traveling fish truck for HBG, just to satisfy my curiosity. The fish pictured in this thread was from this batch. Typically, HBG this size run 60-65 cents apiece around here. If I have a spare cage available next spring, I would like to try growing out a smaller size, say 2-3", to see what, (if any) difference it makes in ultimate size potential.

I have a few, (20 initially,) HBG that came from Arkansas, by way of a friend. These fish were placed into the pond in 2009. They too were all between 3-4", and were fin clipped to aid in identification. We have been able to catch a few, and some display unusual markings, at least compared to the other HBG. I have no idea how many have survived, but they are understandably scarce. I will search through my photos, to see if I can find one that shows the markings in detail.

Due to the heavy LMB presence in this pond, growing them out in a cage for a few months seems the best option. I try to remove the Bass when they get over 12", but they don't always cooperate.... it's no trouble keeping 100 in a cage for a couple of months, or until they get to 5-6". They grow quickly, and I don't suffer many mortalities, probably less than 10%.