Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Show off your catch Hybrid RES Growing Nicely

Sorry for the large pics but even though I re sized them they always came out huge. I stocked thes fish on 4/22/2014. The top three pics are the same fish. I caught 8 fish this weekend two were 14 oz. and the other 6 were over 1Lb. All were released,in hopes of reaching the two pound mark.

Beautiful fish! Are they GSF x RES Hybrid?

Did you buy the hybrids or produce them yourself? Either way very nice looking fish. The BG parents appeared to be premium brood stock.

Those gillcrackers are a blast on light tackle. Very nice fish!

Bill I was told they were crossed with a male Blue Gill.

Bill I purchased them from Logan Hollow Fish Farm. I am very pleased with them. They spawned the very first year, and have taken to feed starting last year.

Agreed, they look like a BG x RES cross to me. Love catching those. The F1's are however, heavily male biased. Some sources put it at 97% male. I do think they will backcross readily with the parental species.

Growing nicely is an understatement.

I have no blue gill in my pond, but I do have regular RES in it. I saw spawning beds the first year. I did catch a couple of small ones in a trap last year. I suppose the regular RES could have been what I saw spawning.

As they are F1s and mostly males, is it possible Steve was seeing at least a few F1s spawning with the RES females?

Do the F1s have the Pharyngeal teeth like the RES?

Yes they do.

Outstanding BRES!!!!

I agree, I think they are bluegill/redear hybrids.

No GSF that I can tell, no colors on the fin margins.

I'm 99% certain of BRES, too.

Consider a tray scale - one used to weigh food. They are reliable, accurate and cheap at any big box store, and might be a little easier on your trophy fish. I keep mine in a ziplock freezer bag to keep it dry, and weigh fish in a colander and just tare it out. Just a thought - now I'm not implying that I feel weighing fish by hanging causes any injuries or stress, I just err on the side of caution when I'm handling my special fish [and those are some real trophies!]. I've dropped a few using my old Rapala hand held scale - but hopefully you're not prone to accidents like I am.

Those are just gorgeous fish, congrats on a great job.

So what is everyone's opinion on this fish. Female BRES or Female RES. Also having no BG in the pond, and the BRES and the RES cross spawning, I will eventually end up having only RES correct? Also with the BRES spawning with each other is there a chance they will convert back to BG?

What is the meaning of a HRES (hybrid RES?) isn't that the same as a BRES (bluegill x RES)? Is this a female? Beautiful fish!

Yes BRES sorry. I am not sure, My guess is it's a female BRES. There is so many variation of colors, not always sure how to tell the the BRES and the RES apart.

My guess is a male BG x RES cross.

+1, male BRES - appears heavily skewed towards BG genetics too, could it be a F2 backcross with BG - BBRES? Eric/Tony?

Any BRES that you catch that you think is female take a picture and then fillet it and verify the sex and improve your learning of male vs female. IMO You should be periodically adding a some new BRES hybrids to keep the integrity of your population.

Thanks Bill, I was wondering if I should restock a few every once in awhile.

It could be a backcross, it's just so hard to tell with all the diversity common to lepomis hybrids, at least for me. Lots of variables involved even within crosses that are definitively known, that influence appearance.

I will say that two years ago I happened to be at the right place and time to witness a male BRES in a courtship dance with a female BG. A few days later I saw the same fish guarding fry in his nest. I suppose a female RES could've visited the nest also, but either way it appeared to me that the MBRES had successfully spawned. I have no way of knowing if this union resulted in recruitment, but it's an interesting question.

Great fish.

Surprising more fish farms don't use this cross for hybrid BG.

Added this thread to RES info and links.

Another thread on BGxRES hybrids. BGxRES hybrids

Those bottom two fish sure exhibit a lot of BG characteristics - and are they ever amazing. Doing incredible things over there, congrats!