Hello Everyone, While I am new to posting of the forum, I have been reading extensively on the pondboss forum for about a year now. I would like to share my experience with gams as they seem to be a fish, like the GSF, that is either loved or hated. I have 2 approx 1/2 acre ponds with CC, LMB, CNBG and of course the polarizing GAM. Prior to last fall, I had never seen any fish eat a GAM, and their population seemed to increase exponentially. After reading everything on the forum about them, I decided to attempt to use them as live bait. Within 2 seconds of my first cast to a known BG hangout, I had my first bite. GAMS are very soft and delicate to handle and do not live for more than a minute or two on a hook, but if you haven’t hooked a fish by then, IME the fish probably are not there. I have now caught dozens of BG on the GAMS and several bass up to and including 19 inches on GAMS. In my second pond, which was stocked with a few large bass and many CNBG of various sizes last fall, I have started to try to feed the YOY BG which were too small to take pellets small GAMS by throwing them into the weed edge where the YOY BG live. All but the largest gams are instantly eaten or torn apart by schools of small hungry BG. Since I have began this feeding regiment, almost all of the less than 1.5 inch gams have disappeared from the pond minus some newborn fry that live in tiny puddles literally on the bank itself. It is now quite apparent to me that GAMs are just as good as if not better as forage for BG of all sizes and young bass as FHM.
If hatcheries could make money on GAMs they would be raising them, but since they are virtually everywhere, and tend to show up on their own, there's no commercial market for them. They are very welcome in my pond.
.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
I started with 25 mosquito fish from Amazon. Put them in a tiny 4' x 8' x 1' tank I use to save lilies from the deer. They double their number about monthly. So I seeded the new pond hoping I'd never see mosquitos. The pond teems with the Gambusia now, everywhere in the shallows. NO mosquitos come from the pond. Baby bass line up along the shore looking to make a score.
I tried one for bluegill bait. Maybe my fish are too well fed. However, I did get a bite at last (a bait thief). I'll be trying more of them...makes sense.
Dan, I too have experienced much bait thieving from the bluegill. The best thing I have found to reduce the problem is to hook the GAMs right above the gravid(dark) spot on their belly in the center mass. This seems to keep them on the hook the best. Another thing is to wait a second or two to set the hook. It is a balance though as if you wait too long to set the hook, they will either spit it out or swallow it, making things very difficult. I lose anywhere from 25%-75% of all GAMs to bait thieves. I have also found that if I feed before fishing (the same day) the BG do not take the bait nearly as well. However, after a few days of not feeding, I will either catch a fish or have the bait stolen within 15-30 seconds no matter what, if I am casting to the right spot.
Mike, while I agree the mosquitofish have little commercial purpose, when I have seen them sold, I have seen them from anywhere from 25 cents to $1.50 plus shipping. I would think though they’re a dime a dozen(more like a dime a hundred) they are the hardiest fish I have ever experienced, so it seems like the cost to the producer would be extremely low. If I could get 1.50 per gam, I would drop out of college immediately and be a millionaire by the end of the year.
