snrub, Yes, they are prolific as ever. I like them too. I may have to pull out some more of the larger sizes this spring / summer to keep them under control. I'd like to have the YOY for my LMB...I have some GSF in excess of 8". They kill the pellets and grow quickly.
Here is one of my larger ones. Caught this in the big pond where I only have a few that have been stocked in the last year or so. Forgot to get a mouth gap measurement.
snrub, That one is getting up there in size. How big do you normally let them get before removing them from your BOW? What's the record size (in length) that you have grown up to this point?
Well I put that one back and it is the biggest to date. Ponds are only about 3 years old.
In the old pond I cull anything under 6" and keep the bigger ones. I just started putting some in the big pond so leaving all of them so far. Probably only 50 total in that 3 acre pond. But a bunch of them went in at 3" so some could have been eaten also.
The HBG is what I prefer but would like to see how big I can get a GSF.
I had a couple went right at 8" last year...they came in with the water in the summer of 2014, so I don't really know what size they were originally. I pulled 300 out last summer to help out a neighbor to restart a forage base for his LMB and to give my CNBG and RES a chance. It seems like everyone that I catch from 3 1/2" to 8" are butterball fat (gravid). I never see any under 3 1/2"....hopefully the Legs (LMB) are taking care of those. I've read where they can get upwards of 2 lbs...would be interesting to see. I catch them on artificial jigs frequently.
Just curious on if these look like 100% greenies. First two pictures the fish came in just shy of 11" and 1.6lb. The second fish was not weighed but was 9".
I would say all three hybrids, with the last one being less certain.
I don't see the bright green bars that my GSF have, but that could be the picture. If you look back at my picture of the GSF the picture does not show them very well either, but in person they were very visible.
On the third one look at the shape. Notice the hump behind the head? Now look at my picture. A straight arc from the top of the mouth, with no hump. Of course this could be just because of a size difference. I think the way the third fish is being held makes it appear to have a large mouth. But it does not look large enough for a GSF. Having said that, I look back at my fish and it also does not look like the mouth is terribly big, but in person it was much more obvious (the mouth would have opened much wider.
GSF are noticeably wider in body than BG. Can't tell this feature in the picture.
It is a lot easier to ID in person holding the fish than looking at pictures.
So for me it is hard to say for sure, but my best guess is the third fish is also a hybrid.
Edit: I was typing when Shorty posted his opinion. He has seen a lot more fish than I have, and I think he has it right.
Thanks I was leaning toward hybrid on the first, but the second I was unsure. That pond was stocked with some CNBG last spring so now it`s got a muddle of BG,CNBG,HYBRIDS, and possible some GSF.
I don't know how to be sure. What happens over several generations of GSF back breeding? I recently caught a mutt. It was about 10.5 inches and the body looked like pure BG. But, it had the green spots along the jaw area and the larger mouth. It was a magnificent fish that I immediately returned to the water. I have no idea what % GSF it was.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
Dave it was really a BG but it knowing your fondness of GSF and not wanting to get culled it opened its mouth REAL wide so you would think it GSF and put it back in the water.
I don't know (does anyone for sure?) if the GSF in my old pond were pure, but to my knowledge the original ones that came from the puddle I left behind that turned out to be the brood stock would have been as pure as was possible. As far as I know, there were previously never any BG in that pond.
Since I have stocked BG, RES and also put some known hybrids in there, with future generations who knows. But I think the originals would have been as pure GSF as possible for this area.
There are a lot of various GSF hybrids in public waters around here. I have caught lots of different looking hybrids while fishing for BG. I think the GSF males are very aggressive nesters. Probably one out of four GSF I have caught look hybridized, mostly with longear SF, which are very colorful, as pretty as many expensive tropical fish.
The Longear are really pretty fish. According to the USGS they are native to my area also. Too bad they don't get very big.
If it ever quits raining and Cow Creek goes back down I would like to do some fishing in it. Last time I did creek fishing as recall I was in grade school. Would like to see what is actually there.
From my childhood I remember my brothers calling sunfish different names, but now I think as much as anything we were just seeing different variations from male to female and spawning season differences and giving them names. Basically we didn't know squat.
I know a lot of guys like their pure bred fish lines but I like some of the hybrids. They get big enough to be fun to catch and yet they are aggressive enough to not be too hard to catch. Had some great nephews (3-6 years old) do some fishing off the dock yesterday and they pulled several small hybrids out. If nothing else is biting, the GSF and GSF hybrids will.
I've been to Elephant Butte Reservoir. It's pretty remote, and I doubt that it gets much fishing pressure. But it was nearly 20 yr ago when I was there, and maybe things have changed.
Ok, here is one for the ID experts. I would like to hear what the pedigree is on it. I know it is a hybrid and I know it has GSF in it, but to date it is the only one I have ever seen markings exactly like it has. Came from my old pond (the pond that this thread started on).
All 4 pics same fish, just both sides and some show the fins and mouth better.
I'm no expert, but I would classify that fish as a GSF dominant HBG. BG x GSF
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.