Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Hybird Bream in Pond

I have a 2 year old pond . 2 years ago i put 1000 HBG in it. The lake is 3.5a The HBG have been in 2 years by them self. Last week I put in 160 Tiger bass Pelet trained. 500 copper nose bluegill and 3000 fatheads. Will i have a problem with the HBG turning in to GSF if so what can i do. Will i need to add more bluegill. Also should i add more Fatheads??
The Bass are 7+ inches.

Thanks for any help
FKR

What are your goals for the pond? Big Bass, big BG, or what? How aggressive do you want to be on pond management, time and moneywise, downstream?

As I comprehend it, two of the aspects of the problem are 1) to provide sufficient predation to eliminate or minimize the number of undesirable HBG offspring and 2) to have sufficient Coppernose (or Northern BG) to outproduce the HBG and give you a healthy, desirable longterm forage base. Here are some questions which will help the experts provide you with better advice (or let an amateur like me make some WAGs):

How big were the Coppernose you just put in? If they are fingerlings, they will not be able to outspawn the HBG for some time. If they are 6", they should spawn like crazy this year all Summer long and your outlook on aspect 2) is much better.

How big are your HBG now? Is there any evidence that they spawned last year? The number/size of Bass you just stocked may not be enough to handle the offspring of 1000 HBG with a head start.

What is your meaning of "Tiger Bass"? There was a lengthy discussion here about a month ago on "Tiger Bass" vs. "Gorilla Bass" vs "Guerilla Bass"; it would probably simplify things for you to define the exact Northern/Florida/F1 LMB content of your Tiger Bass, if you know it.

P.S. I like the use of "GSF" for Green Sunfish (to distinguish from GS - Golden Shiner). I think I will adopt that acronym for use myself.

GATROUT, I think that Theo has asked the most critical questions that must be answered before we go on. What do you want from your lake and how much time, effort and money are you willing to devote to achieve these goals over time?

Like almost anything else in this world, it all depends... There have been a lot of discussions about HBG. In my experience, they do grow bigger, faster and are more agressive than bluegill. While they are certainly fertile, in most cases, I think they should be considered a non-reproducing fish. There are three reasons for this. First, while the F1 cross does exhibit hybrid vigor, the following generations usually show hybrid depression. Second, in the presence of LMB, because the young have more of the shape of GSF, they are eaten before pure BG. And lastly, as most people know, these hybrids are mostly males.

In our lake, we have both. However, without constant restocking, I think we would quickly loose the HBG.

Thanks for the reply. I think the bass are a cross of a northern and a florida bass. I am going to open a flyfishing camp. I want to have large bass and bluegill for my guest to catch in a 3.5 a lake. I also have 900ft of river where we stock trout. My goal is to have a place for my guest to have fun catching large fish in the lake and river. Trophy size would be great but I would be happy with just large fish that are fun to catch and release with a flyrod. Any advise would be great. I have a company I am working with who is stocking my lake that is very helpful. Thanks for your help.
FKR

PS
I will also be stocking larger Trout in the lake during the fall and winter months.

Seasonal Trout will act as another predator and help control BG/HBG offspring. I have never stocked them but read a couple of posts that indicated Trout (I believe it was Rainbows) can really clean up on BG fingerlings in colder water - supposedly the trout stay active while the BG get a little sluggish. I assume that the more GSF-ish HBG offspring, being more streamlined than straight BG fingerlings, would be preferred by Trout like they are by LMB. Just having additional predation will help.

GATROUT Like you I stocked Georgia Giants in my middle Georgia pond. We have had our yearly Ken hatefest the last week which I have stayed out of for once(hey Greg). While I will agree Ken will load your pond full of fish I belive with his website and catalog he is very honest with the pluses and minsus of his Bream.

That said I stocked Georgia Giants four years ago and as you have also stocked Coopernose bream, two years later in my case. My Georgia Giants are one pound plus and the Coopernose have reproduced and are doing well. Easy to tell the difference between them. No signs of Greensunfish.

Because of the aggressive nature of Georgia Giants I can not think of a better fish to stock to teach fly fishing

You are stocking a stream in Georgia with Trout I thought that was a big No-No

Bill with a permit which is easy to obtain by writing DNR you can stock trout in streams. BTW he still wanted to know about fatheads. I'm staying out of this discussion for now.

Fatheads,usually sold by the pound(3000 don't sound like alot). Don't I remember a recommendation to stock 10 pounds per acre when a pond is initally stocked? probably need more.

When is your school going to be set up I would like to come up