Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations LOTS of GSF...

Noticed a LOT of green sunfish by the feeders at the pond today, and when I fished a couple weeks ago, I caught about a dozen in one hour. Up until this year, we would catch one every few months...

How often do they reproduce, and are they detrimental to the pond, other than competing with bass for forage (i.e. CBG)?

Dan, they reproduce annually. I don't consider them detrimental. The CNBG will easily outspawn them. If they bother you, trap or seine. Other than that, there's not much you can do about them.

If you catch one, you can toss it on the bank. That's about like trying to eliminate ants with a hammer.

Has anyone noticed how easy they are to scale somepared to other sunfish?If you clean a bunch you can easily tell the difference. The body seems a little softer.

keith, they are.......so soft and cuddly

fishman, although the GSA will not likely seek yer membership unless we see a radical change in yer attitude towards these regal fish the ponds in which i have seen LMB and GSF interact usually end up with huge GSF and stunted bass.....due to the heavy predation on the GSF, and the few GSF survivors growing to disproportionate sizes....in other words the bass really love them, but they do not breed fast enough by themselves to maintain a good forage base. therefore, if you keep healthy numbers of other lepomis (CNBG, BG, RES, etc.) IMHO, they (the GSF) should not be detriment at all, but add diversity and a preferred forage stock for the LMB....assuming big LMB is yer goal.

my speculation is that ponds containing large numbers of stunted GSF are a reflection of the management procedures (or lack thereof) as opposed to the mere presence of the GSF causing the adverse conditions.

we at the GSA will not relent until the entire north american population of pondmeisters are educated about the added values lepomis cyanellus bring to pond environments

i really need to get back to work today.

Warmouth are people too!

My Greenies are getting nice. They blast the feed...all you see is a rainbow of color when they hit. There are also several little ones that hang with the regular sunfish by the dock, they stand out with there highly decorated coloring. I wont add more but I sure dont mind them there. I am proud to be a member!

I'll admit, I'm coming around on the GSF. They are a blast to catch on a fly rod, and go absolutely nuts when the feeders go off...

How do they taste?

My GSF are fun to watch/catch and taste fine, but they make very poor swimming company. Any brown spot or mole is targeted and attacked relentlessly. Last night I was sitting on a rock watching them attack my feet, when one jumped up out of the water over 4" to bite me in the back of the leg. I looked and found a brown spot I had never noticed before. My GSF are a little more green than this picture but just as viscous. Their time is drawing near though, I am draining the pond down now to Rotenone them (and the LMB) and restock with SMB, YP, FH, and maybe in a few years a couple of Walleye.

Don't know if your areas are recently updated, but this is the stunning Virtual Earth view from space of my pond. About 1.2 acres. Fabric and rock around the edges all the way to the bottom. Can also see the stand pipe and the drainage basin and overflow. Can't wait for the SMB .

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

Jeff K, with GSF like those, make sure you wear a steel mesh jock strap when you swim.

That overhead shot of your pond is awesome. Totally awesome.

Bruce's RES may go the way of the Mayans.

Here's a link to mine.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

Let me know if this works.

Here's my baby. Bruce, your link worked fine.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

Your pond looks exactly like my pond. It's uncanny.

It's a Smallie plot, Bruce...don't be fooled. Sunil has no doubt succumbed to the dark side and is planning untold evils in Nebraska. BISA representatives have posted this aerial to yet another of his claims to pond ownership: Sunil's other eerily familiar pond

Now how did that happen? Theo is right, I'm a goner.

Let me try again:

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

?????

When I preview the post, it's a link to the overhead of my pond, but when I submit the post, it comes out as Brucille's Ranch.

get your REAL pond up on the screen, click on the "share" button, and "view permalink"
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whew....Chicago is saved!

Let's see if this works.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

OK, I guess I'm done trying to annex other peoples ponds. No Eminent Domain happening here.

This is it:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...68995&encType=1

Sunil, are those 2 separate ponds?

No, it's one pond. They are joined by the thin area between them called the "pinch" and then there's a canal we dug off to the right that also joins to the two sides. This is called the Love Canal. You can't see the canal due to the tree cover. During lower water conditions, the pinch became non-navigable by boat or canoe; that's why we dug the canal.

That pinch area is where the majority of our water inflow comes in. The whole left long side of the pond is an abandoned RR track sans the tracks. To the left of the RR berm is a year round creek. There's a 4' culvert that goes between the creek and our pond (under the RR berm). There's an outflow 3' culvert in the upper left corner of the pond.

We dam the creek just downstream of our 4' culvert which creates a pool, and flows water into our pond.

Thanks for posting links guys,
Sometimes it is nice to see the pond without the monster bluegill or LMB dominating the picture.

Now back to our normally scheduled GSF thread...

Dr. Bruce hits his 4,000th post!
Full story at 10:00!

Congrats!