Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Northern Range for HSB?

How far North can you stock HSB and still have them thrive?

The tolerate the cold better than the heat. IMO at least to the northern border of the US.

Thanks Bill. I never realized that. Seems lots and lots of the Southern guys have them in their ponds so I just assumed they were warm water fish.

I see Ewest also referred to HSB as a cool water species in another thread; actually more so than SMB. I learned something again today, as usual, from the forum.

Here is some info I have posted before. Lower lethal temps for HSB are between 32.144 and 39 F. - see below. That is about as low as any pond fish as water freezes at 32.


Cold Tolerance and Fatty Acid Composition of Striped Bass, White Bass, and Their Hybrids
ANITA M. KELLY*1 AND CHRISTOPHER C. KOHLER
Fisheries Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901-6511, USA
Abstract.—Cold tolerance of striped bass Morone saxatilis, white bass M. chrysops, palmetto bass (female striped bass 3 male white bass), and sunshine bass (female white bass 3 male striped bass) were compared under controlled laboratory conditions. Two groups of each taxon were acclimated at 208C in a recirculating-water system housed in an environmental chamber and were fed either a natural or prepared diet for 84 d. The fatty acid composition of the natural diet was 13% more unsaturated than that of the prepared diet. Fish fed the natural diet subsequently had unsaturated : saturated fatty acid ratios 10–25% higher than fish fed the prepared diet. After being subjected to identical simulated cold fronts (108C drop in surface water temperature, as if the fish were conned in cages or pens), all groups of fish fed the prepared diet suffered high mortality (50–90%) whereas there was zero mortality among the groups receiving the natural diet. White bass and sunshine bass fed the prepared diet had higher survival rates (50% and 40%, respectively) compared with their striped bass and palmetto bass counterparts (10% and 20%, respectively). The lower incipient lethal temperature was higher for fish fed the prepared diet (5.9, 4.8, 2.5, and 1.98C for striped bass, palmetto bass, sunshine bass and white bass, respectively) than for those fed the natural diet (near 0.08C, but 1.88C for sunshine bass). Both studies reflect a maternal affect on cold tolerance, with white bass being most tolerant. We demonstrated that diet-induced muscle fatty acid composition directly affects cold tolerance of striped bass, white bass, and their hybrids.