I've been reading all the threads on GG and find them very interesting. I have been interested in GG's for years and would have bought some if my state would have allowed them in. I've talked to everyone I can find about whether the GG really lives up to its claims but have found no one in the past with experience. I gave up trying when I came to this site. So this is really interesting. I'm not defending GG since I never did get any. But I really think some of you are missing the difference between what most of you do and what Ken sets people up for. He intends to sell fish to people who want to grow a lot of very big BG that you don't let reproduce because you want one year class of fish to grow big. When I was looking at GG it was made clear to me that Ken's standard recommendation is for the person who is willing to manage the heck out of his pond to get the most pounds of big fish. His default approach is not that of creating an ecological balanced system. He specializes in fish farming. In that respect it appears he knows what he's doing. So if you factor this difference in I think it explains the differences in approach and recommendation. I didn't by GG but I did stock hybrid BG from local source because I wanted one year class that grew big. I also stocked way over what you guys recommned. I have a 1/2 acre pond with 1000 HBG. That's 2000 per acre. Has it worked? You bet, mine are 3 years old and pushing 1 pound. Not as fast as Ken claims for GG but I'm happy, not bad for Minnesota where pond is iced for 5 months. Yes I live right by my pond and I manage it hard. I aerate and feed every day, twice a day when the sun is rising before I go to work. I manually remove weeds to keep the pond open. I've had no problems with fish survival. In 3 years I've found two dead fish and both of those were expected since I badly hooked 2 fish just prior to them showing belly up. Yes I will probably have to poison it out and start over some day. But I've had a lot of fun growing them and I started catching 1/2 pound fish the second year they were in my pond. I only had one full summer where I couldn't catch and eat fish. So for my goals the hybrid route has done what I want and I'll probably do it again. Hats off to you guys with the time, knowledge, and patience to construct a balanced enviroment and grow an ecosystem. Maybe I'll get smart enough to do that some day but for now I like big BG fast.
