Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Georgia Giant Help

Hybrid BG have a place but it is not in a balanced fishery. If you don't see or catch any after awhile, I figure they didn't survive and need to move on to repair and restocking.

In a closely monitored and managed small pond, I often recommend hybrids. But, that's not often and it's usually in a small pellet fed pond with channel cats.

Flick, if you aren't seeing or catching them on worms and crickets, there is no magic bait. They just aren't there.

You really shouldn't have to do pond dyes or anything else when you stock hybrids, no matter what they are called.

Scott why not hire Nate to come shock it for you to see what you have in there at this time? Also stop using lake dye durign growing season if you want more fish it hurts big time. Also 15 lbs FH in 3.2 acres is about right not "only" that many. Do you stil see them? Good luck being from GA I have had to do many corrections and client not happy after spending lots of money.

Scott,
Regardless of whether the GG are in the pond, you still are going to want to get some regular bluegill and RES- Redear Sunfish stocked right away. Not very many of your bass will ever get larger than 12 inches on their current diet.

At this stage you have many options, and it all boils down to your exact goals, timeframe, and budget. As far as bluegill stocking, I would recommend stocking adult bluegill ASAP. 50 per acre would surely be more than enough to get your new population started, but you could stock as many as 500 per acre if you would like to get rolling on catching and feeding them this spring.

Also if your goal is panfish, their is no problem at all with stocking and feeding hybrid bluegill in your pond. I would recommend getting them from Pete with Logan Hollow or some other local fish hatchery. An idea would simply be to stock 500 adult hybrids this season, then keep stocking every year however many you harvest in a particular year. Just a thought? You have tons more options when you plan on feeding the fish.

There is no right or wrong way to manage your pond, and you have many, many options on what to make it from here. First thing is to not get discouraged, it doesnt take long to get your fishery where you want it to be. Everybody on this website are literally fish raising geniuses, but also keep in mind that their suggestions and ideas will be somewhat biased towards their ultimate goals and management practices. That has been a big challenge for me to overcome when consulting with pondowners, before any recommendations can be made, I need to know exactly which direction to head.

If you clearly define what you want your pond fishing to be, and how fast you want it to get there, you will get much more direct advice on how to get there.

In my experience, bluegill hit anything, even sometimes a bare hook. If you can't catch them on worms, flies, maggots, waxworms, etc., the fish are not there.

I wouldn't look back on the GG stocking. I would only look forward.

Getting pure bluegill in there in the quantities already discussed is a step in the right direction.

With all the feeding you are doing, bug-lites & fish feed, you will see very good growth with standard bluegill plus reap the benefit of them heavily breeding and producing food for the other fish (LMB, CC).

I would also stop using the dye.

If its any consolation for you, before finding Pond Boss, I would have had no basis to doubt any of Holyoke's advice.

There are a number of studies/articles that say never stock HBG with other lepomis (BG , RES etc). A couple of the top guys here further stated the types/species don't get along well and create spawning problems , IIRC.

I think that is generally good advice but in certain situations (goals) and in low relative #s (of HBG) it can be done effectively to meet those goals. This is one of those "it all depends" matters. I agree with Nate on this one and would try it under the circumstances. That is stock some HBG (not GG) after I got some adult BG and RES in and spawning.

The # of FH Greg indicated was enough is for situations where there will be other substantial forage not as the only forage for LMB. I have never heard any FS or knowledgeable pond guy say they thought you could have a LMB population with FH only. That is what Ken suggested to Scott.

Scott we can provide info on population matters (seine survey , creel/catch data , etc). Take a look at this thread/links from the archives. http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92492#Post92492. Also start with this in general. http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1428.pdf at pgs 10-12.

RES = Red Eared Sunfish. We use a lot of acronyms here, it can be daunting at first. Here's a link to the list of acronyms. You might want to print it out for reference at first. After a while you'll get use to it.

Daunting was my attempts to read the threads you guys provided. Wow, there is alot of stuff there. I followed some of it but not all. It seemed all over the board. I certainly had no idea it would come to this when I posed the intial question to Nate. I didn't intend to open a can of worms. However, I am pleased as you all have opened my eyes and shared alot of good information.

I today spoke with an IDNR fisheries biologist and combining his thoughts with the awesome information you all have provided me, here is my game plan:

I will assume no or very few GG exist in the lake(3.2 acres). I am going to stock 750 BG (4"-6") and if only 3"-5" available, I will stock 1,000 BG. Also, I am going to stock 250 RES - I am checking on their availability and size. Next week, prior to purchasing the fish, I am going to attempt the seine a portion of the lake and if there are in fact very few GG, continue with game plan. If I find quantities of GG's and especially if various sizes, I will step back and rethink. I will take photos and measurements if we have anything in the seine. I also intend to add some structure to the lake. There is currently filamentateous algae and water primrose around the edges. I intend to eliminate the algae and half of the water primrose.

If anyone thinks I am going in the wrong direction, please let me know.

The FH have all been eaten. Multiple posts suggested NOT TO USE POND DYE. Can someone explain why not to help me understand?

What kind/size seine do you have available, Scott. I think it will make a difference on whether you get many adult sunfish.

I almost never get any over 6" with my 20 footer, but the monsters Lusk and Condello use will catch about anything. OTOH they may just be a lot better at it than I am.

Planktonic algae feeds the base of the food chain for your fish, pond dyes cut the amount light down significantly which reduces the amount of algae produced. If you are going to use pond dyes for weed control try using it only during the late fall and early spring when algae production is very minimal.

When I was a toddler, I would tag along with my dad and uncles seining ponds for fish, snapping turtles, etc. One of my uncles still has the seines. I believe they are both 50 to 75 feet long with one being 6 feet deep and the other 8 feet deep. My dad is checking on them now. Fun times back then.

Get ready for fun times now too!!!

Just keep in mind that everyone here wants you to succeed. You have a very mixed group of people on this forum from goofs like me to professionals like Bill Cody (one of the most respected and knowledgeable people in pondom). That's what makes this site so cool. We have access the best of the best in pond related stuff. Ewest posted those links just to give you back ground about Georgia Giants not to discourage you from asking questions.

So ask any and all questions and keep participating, that's what keeps the forum going.

Absolutely - ask all the questions - that's how to learn. We will help all we can. No can of worms opened. That was my way of letting Nate know the info was here and strongly debated at the time. One thing about this site everyone here wants good advice provided to pond owners and can't tolerate bad advice given in a reckless manner that causes problems like the ones you have experienced. We wish those things did not occur to good people.

I just wish google would pick up some of these threads. When I first started trying to correct a local pond they were one of the first fisheries I made contact with. Good thing I never followed up on it.

Scott,
Your plan is sound, get rolling on the bluegill because fish moving days for this spring are almost gone. Even if you do find some numbers of GG, your pond will benefit from the BG immediately and down the road.

Although I am known to spark controversy and do love a good argument, I knew Scott you would ultimately learn 1000 times more about your pond by directing you to this thread on Pond Boss instead of just simply giving you some recommendations via email. Just by your email about the work you have done to construct and stock your pond, you seemed like a guy who would soak up a bit more information than the average joe.

Let me know if you can get the fish this spring? Also if you would do me a favor and just keep me updated via this thread about your pond, fish, creeping water primrose control, etc that would be great! I get Georgia Giant questions all the time and am always curiously experimenting.

BTW, I have stocked well over 10,000 GG for my own ponds, also been ripped off by an arkansas guy selling free fish, and have made more mistakes stocking and accidentally killing fish than I would dare advertise to the world. I was thirsting for pond and fish knowledge and unfortunately found the georgia and arkansas people before I found the pond boss people.

Nate - Last Friday I checked with Logan Hollow Fish Farm by Murphysboro in southern Illinois. Saturday was to be the last day to purchase fish, as they were getting ready to put all tank fish back into their ponds. So, on Saturday morning, I drove to Logan Hollow and purchased 1,500 SBG (3"-5"), 500 RES (1"-2"), 200 Channel Catfish (6"-8") and 20 lbs of FH's and put them in my lake. They were in good shape and very active when I released them into the lake. I went a little high on the SBG because I couldn't get 4"-6" and I thought some may get eaten by existing LB. A big thank you to Pete and his folks at Logan Hollow Fish Farm. They were wonderful and went out of their way to help me.

So, this all happened quickly, but I am excited and looking forward to this summer and hopefully good things happen. On Saturday I programmed the aerator to run at night and have the feeder feeding at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. In two weeks I will turn the bug lights on. When the water gets a little warmer, I am still going to seine a portion of the lake. I will let you know what we capture. Also, today I will be ordering the chemicals I need to control the creeping water primrose and moss.

The only reason I had been using pond dye was for aesthetics. I had no idea is was harmful to the food chain. I will use it no longer.

The feed I intend to use is AQUAMAX Grower 500. It is 3/16" size with 41% minimum protein, 12% minimum fat and 4% maximum fiber. Any thoughts on this - am I using the right feed?

Thanks Nate and all others!!!

I think you will get nothing but good choice in the Aquamax 500...

SBG? What's that?

Dave think it means straight or aka native or aka missippi strian bluegill and not cnbg.

I was trying to refer to straight bluegill (BG). I didn't have the list of acronyms available - sorry.

No problem. I tried to think of every possible combination but missed straight.

AM 500 is a good all around food for the fish you have. The CC and BG can do well on lower % than 41% ( 32 is enough) but the BG growth rate may be better at 41%. I mix AM 500 and GFC with good results. With those sizes of fish I would stay with AM 500 for the next few mths.

Wow, now that is getting er done in the nick of time!

Pump the food to those fish big time! Document that they are 3-5 inches right now, keep track of how much food you use this summer, and then document how big the BG are at the end of the summer. You will be amazed at how fast those fish will grow.

I would suggest to change your feed times to 9 am and 5 pm until the water warms up a bit. That will keep the catfish off of the food a bit better and let more bluegill eat! Catfish will tend to hog the feeders towards dawn and dusk.

ewest - what is GFC?

Nate - I will switch feeder times as you suggested. The reason I was doing dawn/dusk is less windy and food doesn't blow to the shoreline as quickly. I am going to my farm tomorrow afternoon and Thursday and will observe the feeder. I currently have the feeder stationed in a deeper part of the lake, probably 11 feet deep. Is that ok or should I move it were the water is shallower?

The Aquamax 500 is for carniverous fish, which I believe is appropriate for BG. Is that ok for the CC to eat also? I think CC is a omniverous fish. What is the difference between carniverous and omniverous fish foods?

Sorry Scott. GFC is Game Fish Chow by Purina. It is 32% protein and has multi sized pellets to cover all sizes of fish.

"What is the difference between carnivorous and omnivorous fish foods? "

Usually the % protein and its source. Omnivorous don't need as high a % protein and their food has plant material as a higher protein source as opposed to fish meal. Fish meal costs more than plant material (usually soy products).

CC will do fine with AM 500 as a supplemental food source.