Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Goergia Giants and Kens Hatchery

About to drain my pond next week. I love to catch bream and was wondering if anyone has caught some of the Goergia Giants Bream. Also on a side note I bought some tiger bass from America Sport Fish in Montgomery Alabama and fed but did not fertilize and had a great time catching them.
If not the GG bream what type of bream do you reccomend putting in.

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Crimson Crawfish welcome to the PB forum. You have ask a whopper of a first question. We have indeed discussed Georgia Giants here at length and it has been rather heated. There are a couple of experiments ongoing and lots of questions remaining. While there is disagreement the consensus is to treat them like HBG (Hybrid Bluegill). I have added a bunch of the threads below for your reading. There are more which can be accessed by a search. In order to avoid opening old wounds and rehashing the same matters I will lock this thread for a while so you can read the old threads. If you have questions after that I will unlock the thread .

The question of what type of fish to use depends on your goals. All HBG (GG included) have limited reproduction and as a result are not productive enough alone to act as forage for a LMB pond. There are other situations where HBG are a good choice like a put and take fishery with feeding.



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The thread is back open. Crimson Crawfish has indicated he reviewed the info. Thanks for letting him get his feet on the ground first. Now open for comments or reports which add to (but not rehash) the threads above. New info is always welcome.

"The light has come on in the cabin indicating rough weather ahead, please fasten your seat belt, Mr Crawfish".

I dont think it is actually the GG vs HBG that is the root of the issue, but that the recommendations of stocking numbers and expensive water conditioning products that are suggested associated with the stocking that causes the turmoil. A recent thread alluded to over $600 in additions to the water, the last being a dye which is all that would actually been needed to accomplish the intent. If you want GG, they have very good early growth reports.

BM, you nailed it. I had a guy call this week. He had two ponds, we talked him out of GG in one b/c he wanted bass and told him to go for it in other and drain in three years. I did not hear back but I think he was going to call to change Kens order. I gave him water quality advise for about 20 mins, and I will not get paid a dime but feel good I think I saved him $1,300 just on water quality products and $850 in fish he did not need. GG numbers were about 2,500/ac.

"GG numbers were about 2,500/ac."

Wow. Before I found Pond Boss, I wouldn't have known any better.

Thanks guys and I agree. Lets please keep this to new info about the fish and not people. We have heard the people part before.

Randy your coming in loud and clear - over. We are going to avoid that weather by keeping a moderate altitude (or should that be attitude).

Deb King (Kens' Hatchery) are you still out there or are you chasing ghosts fulltime? How is Ken's health status?.

What is the situation and/or your status of getting us some growth rate information and photos of 2-3 lb GG? For those of you new to the discussion about GG, Deb promised us last year that she would provide detailed information about GG growth rates and photos of normal "top end size" for GG. Things have been very quiet from Ken's Hatchery for the last 6-7 months.

I just spoke with Deb King. I caught her at work. "Brettski...Brettski...I'm sorry hun, I just don't know who you are? OHHHH, Brettski from Pond Boss!"
She is up to her ears in alligators at work right now, and has had one heckuva past couple of years. I told her that we all missed her and that a new thread just came up about GG's. I also assured her that civility and decorum were (almost) guaranteed with the advent and implementation of Robo-moderator. Actually, I don't think forum guards would be necessary for her to chime in...from what I've seen, she can handle this stuff by herself just fine. I expect that we will be graced by a post or two from Ms. King in the next few days.

Deb, if you do check in I need you to PM me please.

Crimson, we recommend the sunfish we like to catch. My favorite sunfish is the largemouth and smallmouth bass. However, I guess you qualify your statement by saying bream.

If you are a bass guy, be carefull before going any other route than bass/bluegill/redear. Crappie are bad in most small waters, and I don't thing GG's are very good from what I gather here. GG's immediately reproduce an inferior fish, that very year, and apparently don't reproduce very well for largemouth food. If you plan on killing your pond out every couple or three years, then by all means, stock them. Keep in mind, one of their parent breeders is a Green Sunfish and Green Sunfish are normally considered the worst of all sunfish, along with warmouths. They don't get big, and they have giant mouths and appetites.

In your area, coppernose bluegill will give the GG's or any other fish or hybrid a run for their money, in terms of size. They may not be as aggressive.

It's hard to beat a pond with lm bass and bluegill and redear sunfish. There are thousands around this country that were originally stocked that way, and they have maintained their balance fairly well with minimal work.

This said, if you are a hands on kind of guy who likes to try offbeat fish, don't mind killing off several years of work on a whim, the sky is the limit in terms of possbilities. Pick a book on sunfish. Bass, crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, longear, readear, warmouth, green sunfish are just a few choices. Many work better in flowing water or larger enviroments than most ponds posted about here.

Good luck.

It would be nice to hear from Deb again, and to get an update on Ken. As I recall we last heard from her around Thanksgiving, 2006 and she advised Ken was not well.

I hope things are improving.

Bing

It would be good to hear from Deb again to see some long awaited pictures. On the stocking rate issue. Remember that as ewest suggested for HBG I stocked my pond as a put and take proposition and I stocked 1000 HBG in 1/2 acre, that's 2000 per acre. It's working fine for me. I just fished my pond this weekend to sample the population and caught 22 fish in about an hour. The weights ranged from 9 ounces to 1 lb. 2 ounces, the average weight was 15 ounces. Last Sept. the average weight for that many fish was 12 ounces. I've been eating fish on a regular basis for 3 years now and the ones in there just keep getting bigger. I know some day I'll probably have to deal with the overpopulation of F2's or F3's but I think here in the north that's going to take 10 years. Best I can tell I have F2's and F3's but very few of either. Out of exactly 200 fish that I've eaten none of them have been females. I'm hoping that by the time they overpopulate I'll have had a lot of fun with these fish. I've had enough fun already to have made it worth while. The good unbiased advice you'll get here is to decide on your goals and manage accordingly. It doesn't get any better than that.

"I know some day I'll probably have to deal with the overpopulation of F2's or F3's but I think here in the north that's going to take 10 years."

Not necessarily BZ. I saw one study that showed hybrid bluegills and the few offspring they produced completely disappearing after a few generations.

bz don't forget about life expectancy and natural morts. I don't know the max age of northern HBG. If you ate 500 over 5 years and there max age was 6 then in year 7 you would be out of fish if there was no reproduction.

bz, what predators if any do you have in the pond that would help eat Fx offspring?

Cecil, completely disappearing would be just fine thus making it easier to start over. My fish are now 5 years old and I still seem to have enough F1's to catch like crazy when biting. I'm going to try to eat about another 100 this year. Theo, I put in 100 crappie at the same time as HBG. The crappie were a mistake that I wish I hadn't done but on the other hand they may be eating whatever HBG production there is? I don't know but it's working so far. I do cull out several hundered crappie each year but that seems to keep them in check.
Ewest, yes I do wonder how I should time the eating of all fish.

bz I was thinking about the timing of adding new HBG.

I would not want you to have to start over. A few new ones as you go along might reduce the # of Fx and keep you in a good supply of fat and large HBG. I bet with a little looking near the end of summer/fall you could find a hatchery with 4-6in HBG they are looking to find a home for.

Good idea ewest. I was kind of planning some restocking at about the 8 year mark because at one time I asked you guys a question regarding how long my HBG are likely to live. The consensus was about 10 years. So I figured since it took me two years to get from 1500/pound to eating sized fish I'd wait until about 7 or 8 years to restock. If I stock 4 to 6 inch fish as you suggest at year 8 I should have some good eaters by year 10.

Hey boys!!!

I have missed you all greatly, and I am so sorry that I dropped out of the loop for so long. Things down here have just been wild and hectic. No, I am not chasing ghost full-time, although I almost became one. Two accidents resulting in three compressed disc in my neck, a torn ligament, traction, and months of therapy .... all is on the mend now though so no sympathy, empathy, or fussing from you meddling 'ole fools.
You all have left me a lot to address here, but time is short right now. I have been putting in a full-time pace on a part-time schedule at work, and I am about to walk out the door to head to the beach for a few days with the family (MUCH needed)!!!
I will get back on here and talk your ears off like I use to do when I return. Hope everyone is well and that your ponds and lives are prospering.

Hugs all around,

Deb

I would have preferred a group hug at the Pond Boss convention. Looking forward to your updates.