Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Unwanted Fish?

GSF
On Sat. morning, I was able to make a quick trip down to the ranch pond w/ an old friend and caught a few sunnys (GSF) in the 9-10 inch class, sorry wild Bill, forgot to get gape measurements, and Cecil, i won't submit until they come out of my pond.





I've heard lots of bad press over GSF, but these CA grown ones sure are fun to catch. I was targeting larger LMB later in the day, throwing a 4-inch swim bait w/ a bait cast rod/reel combo and a 9-inch GSF slammed it....my first thought was anybody on that PB forum would love to have a lunker GSF inhale a monster artificial bait...........unwanted fish?......guess it depends on objectives. i think these fellers are gonna find a home in my pond.

edited post..restored the pic links.....

Looks like you've D.I.E.D and gone to GSF heaven. Thanks for the pictures Dave!

Well, I have said that I hate GSF, but now I'm thinking "hate" may be too strong a word.

All seriousness aside, if GSF commonly grew that big in my area, I would have nothing against them. A big one in my area is 6", and even then they put up a spirited fight.

D.I.E.D.,

Those are some fat fish...what have they been eating?

Your welcome Russ. Bobad, its hard to imagine just how hard those big ones hit until you catch one, its as if you dont pay attention they'll pull the rod right out of yer hand, and the action is outstanding.....difficult to explain but something like a series of really hard repetative tugs. it was an unintended delight on normal/heavy tackle, and is absolutely phenomenal on light tackle.

I sure could imagine a WWF match between these fish and Bruce's (RES) Bruisers.....

ML, i wont speculate too much until i cut one and inspect (still finishing my larval trawling training), but i'll bet a nickel its LMB fry as they inhabit all the shallows.....i've never seen GSF fry in that pond, they really know how to hide and for good reason. you've prob. seen on other threads i described the pond as LMB heavy/stunted and huge GSF. The LMB you catch are full of LMB fry.

A little side story about Sat. morning...i missed a great photo opp. While targeting the GSF w/ light tackle, i hooked about a 8-inch LMB. now there are not many large (>5 lb) LMB in that pond, but there are some. as i was just about done reelin in the little one and starting to lift him out of water, one of the lunkers came from down under, lurched up and took "my bait", scared the crap out of me......i had him on the line for about 15 seconds and told my buddy to get the camera. i couldnt hold him out of weeds w/ the light tackle, and as you guessed......he got off. that's when I switched to heavier tackle to go after some sizeable LMB, and caught some huge GSF (pictured above)......go figure.

DIED, I implore you to figure out how those GSF get so huge, apparently so consistantly, and develop the knowledge to the point of reproducability . Normally, this might be a job for a Ph.D. (such as another member of the PB "Too Many Daves" Squad, Dr. Willis ) and a team of underpaid, overenthusiastic grad students , but I am sure your keen native intellect, familiarity with the locale, and willingness to except an acronym denoting a posthumous status will be more than sufficient for the task.

Once completed, a pond full (or potentially full) of GSF will no longer be a source of exasperation . Your followers shall be legion, and they shall cry "El Dorado-ize it! Turn that pond into a haven for giant trophy Green Sunfish, and be prepared for the best fishing, ounce-for-ounce, of your life!"

Then some guy named Theo will come along, and fillet all the GSF to cook a big supper, and ruin everything. :rolleyes:

Wow Theo there's some legendary stuff to fantasize about....what a great imagination you have.

Why you would'nt ruin anything, on the contrary, i could get more from the ranch pond, have fun doin it, and open up the old kitchen to you with hearty El Dorado hospitality. nary a time when I would'nt enjoy the culinary masterpiece of an aerospace engineer/cattle rancher.....(Ohio style?).

the GSF i used to have in my pond (before pond dried up) were also large (up to 9-inches anyway) and occurred so in the absence of (fish) predation. the biggest i've seen though (>10")were definitely from the ranch pond. because of no predation, all smaller size classes were easily visible in my pond. my guess is the quality of the water. the waters in my pond and the ranch pond appear very fertile prob. because of the type watershed/nutrient load, they have an apparently healthy food chain, water is quite soft relative to our groundwater, which is really no surprise, our groundwater is 25 grains....not sure what pond is, i just know how it feels during and after a swim.

i own a temp/pH/conductivity/TDS probe for my work(apologies to all those detailed record keeping PMs) but i just havent taken the time for measurements and bookkeeping on my pond, would love to add a DO meter to the mix, but they're a bit pricy.....as my knowledge grows particularly on the fish side of things, i see more and more the need and am gaining the interest to keep such records.