I would like some opinions on this one. It intriques me to add 1 fish of a species I don't want to have or can't sustain in my pond but might someday be cool to catch.

How bad an idea is this if you are careful?

For example I have stocked one of each of these at a size they will not be somebody's snack:

Drum
walleye
google eye

and would like to add a crappie and maybe a flathead

Flatheads are eating machines.

Bill
It's your pond do what ever floats you boat. We call the drum gaspergou or just goos. Goggle eyes are green sunfish in our part of the country, and I probably would not put that one in


Pat W

That's interesting! In Michigan, usually Google Eyes are called Goo Goo eyes, and are Rock Bass not Green Sunfish.

Found this on wikipedia. I wonder if anyone has a rock bass in their pond?

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The rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris, Ambloplites constellatus), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass, but are usually quite a bit smaller. The average rock bass is between 6 and 10 in, and they rarely weigh over a pound. Rock bass are native to the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes system, the upper and middle Mississippi River basin in North America from Québec to Saskatchewan in the north down to Missouri and Arkansas, and throughout the eastern U.S. from New York through Kentucky and Tennessee to the northern portions of Alabama and Georgia and Florida in the south. While fairly good eating cooked fresh, rock bass are generally not regarded by most anglers as a food fish of the quality of bluegill or perch. Fishing with live bait such as nightcrawlers is the most effective method to catch rock bass, although they are often caught with lures while fishing for bass. A. rupestris, the largest and most common of the Ambloplites species, has reached a maximum recorded length of 43 cm (17 in), and a maximum recorded weight of 1.4 kg (3.0 lb).[1] It can live as long as 10 years. These fish have the ability to rapidly change their color to match their surroundings. This chameleon-like trait allows them to thrive throughout their wide range.
Rock bass

The rock bass prefers clear, rocky, and vegetated stream pools and lake margins. Rocky banks of northeastern lakes and reservoirs are a common habitat for rock bass. It is carnivorous, and its diet consists of smaller fish, insects, and crustaceans.

Rock bass can be surprisingly unflustered by the presence of human activity, living under lakeside docks and near swimming areas.

Ambloplites constellatus, a species of rock bass from the Ozark upland of Arkansas, and Ambloplites ariommus are true rock bass, but regarded as separate species.

A. rupestris is sometimes called the redeye or redeye bass in Canada, but this name refers more properly to Micropterus coosae, a distinct species of centrarchid native to parts of the American South. Rafinesque originally assigned the rock bass to Bodianus, a genus of marine wrasses (family Labridae).
In the aquarium

Rock bass can be kept in aquarium as small as 29 gallons for one however they prefer tanks closer to 55 gallon. Rock bass are similar in disposition to central American cichlids. They can be kept with yellow perch, bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, smallmouth and largemouth bass not large enough to fit the rock bass in their mouth.

Sparkplug..Would you put flatheads on the same level with LMB and Wipers as far as appetite is concerned?

The Redeye Bass is one of only a very few bass possibly suitable for life in a large glass box. Similar in disposition to central American cichlids is not a good thing by the way. The few I have caught over the years were in creeks and rivers. Not sure if they could adjust to the lower DO level in a pond?

Appetite is only part of the equation. Flatheads get big, and have the gape to match. I have a "pet" flathead around 3' long, and while I can't say what impact he's had on the fishery as a whole, I've never seen the WE fingerlings I added several months ago.

Personally, I love freshwater drum. I am not sure why they have such a bad reputation. I think they fight great, reach a good size and are good eating. Their method of reproduction would likely mean they could not reproduce in most pond conditions. They could be an great put and take species.

A goggle eye is also called a warmouth

Pat W

Cool. This is now the name that fish game!

When my wife brought this fish home it had nearly taken on the white color of the inside of the bait bucket she had it in. The eye was red and it was shaped like a rock bass or maybe a warmouth. I should have paid more attention! When I see that red eye, big mouth and shape I just say goggle (not google, sorry about my typo) eye. Came out of the kishwaukee river.

Another interesting novelty would be one white bass.

The Drum is because my wife steams smaller ones, just scaled gutted and gilled, less than 16 inches. She spices with Thai spices and they are one of the best fish I have ever eaten.

Drum ain't bad at all! As with most fish fresh is best.

Pat W

Another clue. She said it looked like a BG to her in coloring when she caught it.

Yeah I wonder where those WE went? It really is a pet with that diet. I caught one on a spinner bait that was bucket stocked in my uncles pond many years ago. Now I wonder what effect that one fish had on the LMB and BG population in that pond.

I agree with you Pat. We never throw one back!

Drum do put up a good fight. I don't of anyone that fish's for drum. Drum play the role of spoiler for bass fishermen. Never tried drum because of them not being well known as a good eating fish.

Fish Food,

You are really missing out. I have only had those caught from the Kishwaukee River but they are great! Mild firm flesh with huge bones making them so easy to clean. The Kish is a clean relatively fast moving and mostly shallow river with gravel bottom a lot of the way.I have never had one bigger than 16 inches. I figure smaller in this case is sweeter but I could be wrong.

Looks like I answered my own question. It was a rock bass. From wikipedia:

These fish have the ability to rapidly change their color to match their surroundings. This chameleon-like trait allows them to thrive throughout their wide range.

The next time the opportunity presents itself I will give them a try!

Rock Bass Ambloplites rupestris
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/3361

Warmouth Lepomis gulosus
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/3373

are two different fish.....

They look somewhat the same, but ain't.

Local terminology or local names might mean different fish in different places.

Up here, if you are talking about a "Perch" you most likely are talking about a Yellow Perch.

Down in Tehas, if you talk about a "Perch" (I forget how DD1 spells it) you could be talking about a Northern Bluegill or a Coppernose Bluegill.

I strongly advise against stocking even 1 FC - they have the largest gape of any common North American apex predator and will be cruising for your trophy adult fish as meals - EVERY DAY for many years. I love FC but their impact on a finite fishery [smaller BOWs] will be significant.

Scott, In West Texas it's purch. In East Texas, Arkansas, etc, it puhch.

Thanks for that clarification Scott, I had always thought that rock bass were separate from warmouth. And certainly up north everyone has no problems identifying the fusiform body of the yellow perch with the distinct black vertical bars. Not sure that it would be common to call any bluegill or sunfish a perch here.

Why is that yellow perch are not common in the south?

Their upper lethal temperature limit is between 26° to 30°C (79° to 86°F).
Perch Info

The original range of yellow perch included freshwater and some brackish water habitats from Nova Scotia southward to South Carolina, westward to Kansas and the Montana border, then northwest into Canada, throughout Alberta, and to the southern portions of the Northwest Territories. Yellow perch historically occurred throughout the Canadian provinces bordering the U.S., with the exception of British Columbia. Their range did not originally include river drainages entering the Pacific Ocean or the Bering Sea. The species has since been introduced into nearly every state in the U.S., though some states now limit or prohibit yellow perch introductions. Culturists considering yellow perch should consult state authorities.

Reproduction Yellow perch are spring spawners that mature during late fall or winter and lay their egg masses when daylength increases and temperature rises. Spawning usually peaks at about 10 °C (50 °F). - See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/241/...h.qnz3NOkM.dpuf

Interesting..

California restricted species - some obvious (piranha) and some interesting.. they view them as a risk to native fishes..

Here is a pared down list of interesting ones..

(A) Family Percichthyidae - Temperate Basses
1.The species Morone americana (White perch) (D).
2.The species Morone chrysops (White bass) (D).

(B) Family Clupeidae - Herrings Dorosoma cepedianum (Gizzard shad) (D).

(C) Family Sciaenidae - Drums Aplodinotus grunniens (freshwater drum) (D).
O) Family Cichlidae - Cichlids
1.Tilapia sparrmani (Banded Tilapia) (D).
2.Tilapia zilli (Redbelly tilapia) (D), except permits may be issued to a person or agency for importation, transportation, or possession in the counties of San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial.
3.Tilapia aurea (Blue tilapia) (D).
4.Tilapia nilotica (Nile tilapia) (D).

(R) Family Percidae - Perches
1.Perca flavescens (Yellow perch) (D).
2.Stizostedion vitreum (Walleye) (D).


So no yellow perch

I'll have to try drum too. They are common to catch here in tributaries when the Ambraw and Wabash rivers back up. Sixteen inches is about the biggest I ever caught too.

Hi Poppy65,

My only experience is eating Drum from the Kishwaukee River in my area. The water is super clean, semi-fast moving over a gravel bottom with a few deeper holes. I can't vouch for Drum out of the Wabash. I went to school at Purdue a bazillion years ago and I remember the Wabash as deep and muddy.

With that said, I would definitely try them but would stick to the smaller ones (less than 16) and have a cooler standing by to get them in ice water as soon as I catch to maximize the flavor and texture.

Completely agree with Travis's earlier statement. Freshwater drum is probably the most underrated fish that swims. Get bigger and fight harder than a largemouth, will hit any lure you throw, and taste great if prepared right. If that's not a sportfish, I don't know what is.

I got caught one at Lake Texoma. It was quite the fight and I was impressed with pulling the fish from 80 foot down.

That would be quite the rush. Caught a good one recently on Lake Erie (where they call them sheepshead) and the pull was different than others I've caught locally. I chalking it up to the bigger water. Possibly your experience too. What size tackle were you using?