……in small Texas farm ponds.
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=11135&page=1

Thanks to Dr. Jeff Slipke’s excellent article about Cason’s large pond in the recent edition of PondBoss magazine, motivated me to recount the history of HSB in our small Texas farm ponds.

Being an avid Striped Bass angler, my goal for stocking program of our pond was to introduce Hybrid Striped Bass and to prove to the nay Sayers that they could become an outstanding sport fish as well as excellent table fare in small Texas farm ponds.

The journey is well documented in the link above, but thanks to Cason, Condello, Nate and Overton (alphabetically to not play favorites), my goal has been achieved.
Special recognitian to Todd Overton, who took the financial risk of growing out fingerling HSB to avoid LMB predation in mature ponds.

2003 Expensive fish food





[img]Dug 1/4 acre pond to grow out HSB to transfer to main pond:




1/4 acre pond:






Overton steocking 2 acre pond:




Trophy HSB:







[img]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/texoma/P1010028.jpg[/img]

Numerous HSB have been grown out in our ¼ acre pond with limited feed with NO aeration to 4+ pounds, and several trophy HSB in the 5 – 7 pound (6.75) have been caught and released in the 2 acre pond, both ample high protein food program and 24/7 aeration.

Due to health and other issues, my active participation in managing our ponds in the future will be limited.
Thanks again to all my PondBoss friends for your guidance in achieving my goals.

George Glazener

Great documentation George... HSB are great game fish, I wish they were legal to stock in Virginia.

Good accounting of the HSB story. Ours have done very well. Have been giving them extra supp feeding of LMB pellets. When the big pellets hit the water it looks like someone is throwing bricks into the pond.

George, I will be stocking some in the pond next year. Since I have LMB in the pond, what size do you recommend to avoid becoming LMB food? The LMB in the pond could be pushing 19"-20".

I removed between 75 and 100 pounds of CC's this year, so it's a start on making room for the HSB's.

Scott, 8-10 inch are recommneded by Todd but I lean toward the 10 inchers - the bigger the better.
You can grow them to a pound in 12 months.
Maybe Todd will chime in.
Get out the Mini-Mag!!!

Growing them out yourself is the way to go unless you have a nearby supplier that grows high quality HSB.

A small growout pond worked great for me and it was and still is, a fun fly rod pond.
Cages obviously work for those that have the time and convenience.
Perhaps blocking nets for some?

I typically stock them direct at 6-8 inches since that is the most economical size to get them for me. We do lose some of those to predation, but typically most of them make it. Just stock a few extra.

You can get small ones in the 1.5 inch range shipped in direct from Keo and then raise them in a cage all summer long and release them into your pond at 7-9 inches at the end of october. I have done that a few times as well.

Also you can raise the 6-8's in a cage all summer long too. I have found hybrid striped bass to be some of the easiest fish to raise in a cage!

Thanks guys. There is a HSB supplier that is relatively close (less than an hour away) and I also have a couple of 4' sq. cages. The pier is this winter's project, so it will make cage raising fish a LOT easier.

I got mine from Todd at 10-12 inches ( 1.5 lbs estimated) to avoid LMB predation. I would say there was little if any predation even from 10+ lb LMB.

Very nice documentation there George. It's always nice to see someone have success with these fish. They sure are a joy to have.

Yes both George and I remember the first telephone conversation we ever had, likely about 10 years ago, regarding the feasibility and availability of HSBs for small private ponds. At the time I did not have the resources. Later, with the resources that I now have to work with (30+ ponds), I grew some HSBs out for George. I appreciate George for experimenting with and encouraging us to experiment with these fantastic sportfish. We now sell many 1000s of HSBs every year and most folks love em. I can't say enough about the thrill of having HSBs as sportfish in a private pond.

In honor of George we are going to name our advanced HSBs "Glazener Hybrids," effective next website update.

Very cool Todd!

What is the highest stocking density that can be stocked?

Although I don't suggest this rate for you James, the highest density that we suggest in rec ponds is 100 HSB per surface acre.

http://www.overtonfisheries.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

WOW!

That's great!