Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Chronicles of stocking Hybrid Striped Bass......

Yesterday I received 1200 HSB from Keo Fish Farms in Keo Arkansas. It was an amazingly simple process. I thought I'd throw together a post with some youtube videos so people could see what to expect if they ever attempt similar. I'm attempting to grow them out in a 1100 sq ft pond til October of this year. Although I am starting them in a cage for the first week or so to allow me to monitor them. I'll try to update this with their growth. I apologize for not getting an actual picture of one so you could judge their size. I'll see what I can get done the next time I handle them. I also apologize as in the first video I called them muskie. Apparently I had muskie on my mind. Feel free to chime in and tell me what I did wrong so people can learn, etc.

Christmas morning.....



The acclimation period......



The release....



And two hours later they're feeding.... (sorry you can't see the feeding well, I had already thrown some in when I started videoing, it was fun to watch them swarm to the area and feed) And just for the record, Keo told me to start them on 1.5mm or smaller feed. I started them on Optimal Grower #2, which is 1.2mm.



So from 5pm Wednesday to 12pm on Thursday 1200 fish had gone from Little Rock Arkansas to South Central Nebraska, were acclimated and feeding. I hope the success continues.

Excellent report and well done !! Thanks for posting ! Good to see you habituate the fish !

For all - be sure when you open a O2 transport bag that you are ready to put the fish in the water (already tempered). The bag contains pure O2 reduced by the CO2 produced by the fish in process. As a result they need to go in to well oxygenated water as soon as the bag is opened.

That is a neat setup. I like being able to watch them for a while before letting them loose in the main pond.

Thats a lot of hungry HSB!!!!!

I have the good fortune of having them in this cage for a few weeks, then letting them loose in that same pond (1100 sq ft) until October. At that time they get released in the main pond (15 acres). I really think these grow out ponds are going to be game changers for my main pond. And it'll allow me to grow specialty fish in my mid sized (2/3 acre) pond.

Neat, just neat.

Very cool NEDOC! Thanks for taking the time to put it on video.

I had no idea wipers came from Littlerock. That would be within driving distance for me (5 hours according to mapquest). I will be watching your project with interest.

I like it!

They come from near Lonoke, Arkansas. The nearest freight airport is Little Rock. Lonoke is about 25 miles east of LR.

They came from Keo Fish Farm which I believe is in Keo Arkansas.

You�ll get to see them in person in Sept snrub... as long as they make it.

Fellas, I just put this on here because I�m a complete novice and was thinking how I�d like something like this on pond boss just so I had a clue what I was getting myself into. I hope it helps someone. All in all it went as smooth as I could�ve hoped for. But I definitely would�ve felt more comfortable with a little bit of a tutorial to help me out.

Seeing the cages you built and the prep you did pretty well provides a tutorial for the rest of us.

I forgot to add that I began feeding them on Optimal Grower #2, which is 1.2mm in size. Keo told me 1.5mm or smaller. Ordering your food ahead of time seems fairly important. I'll update as I step up in pellet size.

As a note, I did order a 40lb bag of Optimal Grower #2. I have no idea if that was the right amount. I've got a feeling that I may have been better off ordering one of Optimal's 10 lb pails of Grower #2 and then step up to their 1.8mm feed for another 10lbs. I'll try to keep this updated as I go.

Here are my HSB feeding one week (actually 6 days) after arrival. Growth is noticeable. Probably even in this video. Again, I'm thinking I should've ordered only 10 lbs of Optimal Grower #2 instead of a 40 lb bag. I think these fish are already capable of moving up to the next size of pellet.

Cool vids, they are eating machines... do you plan to feed on the main pond?

Awesome! It is surprising how far the tiny feed will go.

I've found that hand feeding the small stuff is best. It tends to clump and stick in automatic fish feeders when the weather is humid.

Wish I could stock those little buggers. *sigh*.

Unavailable, illegal, can't survive the cold?

I just wish I had NEDOC's pond. HSB and TM are both on my list if I ever get a pond of my own to play with.

Thanks for the thread. I'm looking forward to seeing how both the HSB and TM turn out for you.

My plan presently is to feed heavily when water temps are between 58 and 75, give or take a few degrees. I�ll shut off when the water gets above 75. The reason for that is twofold.... 1) I�ve read that hsb tend to stress when feeding above 80 degrees and 2) I�ve got an over abundance of common carp. By eliminating the feeding when temps are over 75 I�m hoping the hsb become more aggressive consumers of the newly hatched carp fry.

Sounds like you are thinking straight, NEDOC! Love to hear about how it all turns out.

NEDOC, my Hybrid Stripers don't seem to stress. They are still feeding with no apparent ill effects. I rarely have 75 degree water.

That's great to know. I wasn't concerned about killing them. I just thought they may not feed as well. I'll still probably plan on shutting it down for 4-6 at some point in the summer to help control the carp population. But I can dictate it by the timing of the carp spawn rather than by water temps.

If you were to stand in the water where I feed the Hsb they would knock you down to get to the feed right now. They love those Purina lmb chunks.

Great work Corey, love the experiments! Keep us updated and nice work on the transport I am happy our temps stayed low and allowed a nice trip for you and your babies.

NEDOC - I have a suggestion. When you add the pellets do it by small hand fulls and try to spread-toss it into the cage trying to cover as much of the total cage surface as possible. Spread out the food offering. IMO when you just dump the pellets into the center the fish on the periphery do not get adequate amounts of food. As an added benefit, When you spread-toss the food out across the cage surface, there may be some smaller pond resident fish outside the cage that could get a few pellets which would also help them grow and it would make good use of your excess from the 40 lb Optimal bag. I agree with your idea of using just 10 lbs of Optimal for each size of pellet as the fish grow to the next larger pellet.

NEDOC I mix a cup or two of the #2 starter (edit:correction, it is Optimal #4 starter) in with my regular fish food (about 6-7# worth) and the small BG around the shallows love it. But I hand feed all my fish. Might not work as well mixed up in a fish feeder. Or you can just hand feed it around the pond edge.

I don't think you will have any trouble feeding it up.

I actually caught one, about 17to 18 inches a week ago.

How big were they when stocked and how long ago were they stocked? Just curious about growth rates.

Just got them stocked, never caught a HSB in my life. How was the fight? Did you do anything special to resuscitate it?

Long, strong pulls; not at all like a LMB. According to fishing guides that I know, most likely it will die no matter what I do. But, I rarely eat fish, and figured to give it a chance.

A 12 yr old little girl caught 6 of them off my pier 30 days ago. My DIL had to hand line the larger sized ones because the little girls rod and reel would not handle the fish. I found no floaters after that day of fishing. This little girl was my DIL niece. She still talks of going back fishing

Just a little update on this project. I'm currently prepping them to be released from the cages into my grow out pond. But before doing that, I wanted to get them taking to some floating feed so that I could monitor them. So I've mixed some of the prior feed (Optimal Grower #2) which sinks rather quickly with feed that floats (Optimal grower #4). This video is taken about the 3rd feeding after them getting introduced to floating feed. It's not terribly exciting, but thought it may be of some use for someone who may attempt this in the future.



And some bonus footage of feeding the following morning. I fully expect the feeding to ramp up into a frenzy....

Hopefully mine will start feeding like that soon - I just started feeding again last night. I have only seen one of my HSB since they were stocked last fall

What size did you stock yours at and did you have any predators in the pond? I wonder if they have so many fry to eat from other species that they aren't concerned about pellets. I have a feeling when I release mine into my grow out pond I won't see them feed for a few days because the pond is loaded with zooplankton. I'm guessing they'll prefer consuming that rather than pellets.

I had 175 10-12" HSB put in late last October - I only had a couple of larger predators (2-3 LMB over 14") in the pond at that time. They have a TON to eat in my pond; tadpoles, frogs, crawfish, and stunted fish (bg, bcp, bh, etc.) are plentiful.

I've seen one HSB after ice out who was cruising near the surface over 14' of water.

Its funny, of all the fish I had stocked my LMB are the only ones feeding on surface pellets. I'm sure more will come around in the next week or so

HSB normally school in groups. Seeing one at a time is a concern. Are you catching any of the others? HSB can have fickle survival rates when transported and restocked.

Bill, I haven't caught any either...including fall fishing, ice fishing and fishing many times this spring/summer. I've heard its common to not catch them at high rates in ponds, is this true?

I ice fish the Mississippi backwaters quite a bit and catch a lot of HSB - I was hoping to have the same experience on the pond.

I put 300 what they call 4 to 6 inch HSB in my 60 acre lake, little over a month later and I have caught some on small jigs and had some in my minnow traps. They have grown a lot in the short time they are in the lake the ones I have caught are 7 inches already. Maybe I was just lucky to catch them, but they seem to be an awful aggressive fish IMO.

I put in (25) 4-8� HSB in my pond on April 27th, 2015. Haven�t caught one yet. I believe I saw a group cruising out near the middle last spring, but I�m not sure. Quite often I see lots of minnows (some tiny fish) jumping out of the water in bunches though, and usually followed by a big swirl or wake. I suspect these are the SMB feeding, but it could be my HSB. I�ve caught lots of the SMB, but not a single HSB. Some day I�ll get one. I see activity at the edges of the feed pattern when the feeder goes off that looks like something Big is feeding on the minnows pushing the feed around, but I�ve never seen any HSB come up to take floating feed. I just hope they are working over my GSH, and not my YP..

I would be VERY tempted to electro fish that pond to see if any HSB show up.
Make your own with a 12V battery and a generator.

4/2015 until 7/2018 would be too much for me to wait.

I�m tempted, but I�d end up hurting a SMB or two, and I�d really be ticked..

I�ll eventually catch one, or two. Hopefully someone will have the can�t miss solution that will work. I�ll try a GSH under a bobber again. I just need more time on the pond. Maybe the chicken livers.. Something has to work.

I generally catch one while BG fishing with a Stubby Steve.

If i don't catch or see any during the warms months I will just Swiss cheese the pond this winter and survey with an under water camera

We put 300 8-10 in. HSB in our 10 A. pond 2 yrs. ago this spring. The first year they did not take to the pellets much and they were suppose to be pellet trained. Last year and since they are very aggressive at feeding time. We added another 100 last fall because we have been taking out quite a few. We have caught them on plastic worms while fishing for LMB, on crank baits but mostly on minnows while fishing for BCP. Two days ago we caught another that was 19 in. and over 5 lbs (that is all the higher my scale goes). My wife is almost afraid (not really) to catch one because they will wake you up.

That's what makes catching them fun!

I can't wait for a pond full of these dudes. It's gonna be so much fun.

Today is the 4 week mark since receiving my HSB from Keo. I've had exceptional luck to this point. I've kept the vast majority of them in a 4'x3' cage. The only reason I did this was so that I could observe them. But as it turns out, I believe that mine feed trained much better than they would have otherwise due to being confined and having minimal access to zooplankton. I believe I found a total of 4 or 5 dead that appeared to have starved. But maybe they died for other reasons. Either way, I couldn't be happier. So last night I released them into my 1100 sq ft pond. I didn't observe any feeding action this morning, but will edit this post when I do observe my first feeding post release into my grow out pond /I observed light feeding 24 hrs post release and heavy feeding 36 hrs post release/. Here's a picture of one of the larger ones and video of them feeding just prior to releasing them.

That is a nice healthy looking hsb fingerling. I believe your are going to really enjoy catching them in a couple more years. makes me want to follow along your footsteps but, were full up with fish and have no more room for more fish at my place I'll just have to follow along with your Chronicles.

Found this info from a 2003 thread in which Bill Cody did some interesting research that I wanted to add to this thread... (Thank you BC for all the work you do)

1. Bob, in talking about the 35 acre lake near Lubbock, led me to think that since the lake had thousands of 4" -6" crappie, these sizes would fit into an 8" HSB's mouth. He said, "We calculated the average crappie in this lake would fit into an 8" HSB's mouth..... I assumed he was referring to the thousands of crappie sampled that were 4" - 6" long. Maybe not.

2. Anyway, FYI, I did some fishery science this week and came up with the following info.
8.25" HSB has a mouth opening of 23mm (0.9").
9" HSB has a mouth opening of 25mm (1.0").
13" HSB has a mouth opening of abt 29mm (1.14")
22 " HSB has a mouth opening of 43-46mm (1.7-1.8").

The vertical height(body depth or maximum body depth)of blk crappie in OH is:
4" long crappie is 31mm (1.2")high/wide
6" long crappie is 49mm (1.9")high wide

And here's a link to the full discussion..

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=45793&page=5

Week 6 of hybrid striped bass. They are now going through about 2-3 cups of Optimal Grower #4 per day. I generally feed them early morning and late evening when schedule allows. Although I can't see them terribly well, they do seem to be growing well. They certainly feed better in low light conditions, although they will feed with bright skies if hungry. Something to keep in mind for those that try to raise them.

Really cool NEDOC.

Makes me want some!

Grab some on your way home from Husker Harvest Days!!

Thanks for that offer. Unfortunately I'm afraid they might not make it home alive. I do want to visit with you about them though when we get together.

Right now I kind of have my ponds full up on projects. But by next year I might consider trying to do something like you did.

Neat project

Nothing too special here but wanted to provide an update at Week 8. The feeding has definitely picked up. I'm feeding 3-4 cups of feed per day now. A mix of Optimal Grower #4 and Optimal Bluegill Junior. They seem as though they'd eat as much as I throw at them. I'll try to catch one here in the next few days to give an update on growth at this point.

Just wanted to edit this in for next year when I read over this and want advice from myself..... If I had to do it over again I would order 10 lbs buckets of Optimal #2, #3 and #4 then transition to Optimal Bluegill Junior

That is way cool!

With my SMB I have noticed over a few weeks where originally the Starter #4 was the main pellets being hit now I see them passed up more and more and the larger pellets being chosen. I mix up some starter #4, BG Jr (ran out but some coming in tomorrow), Optimal BG and a few Optimal Bass in case some of my original stock are eating. They hit it pretty good in an initial flurry as I throw it in then quite a bit just floats. Try to do it a couple times a day in small amounts.

Your HSB act more like my BG in my main pond. They just keep going at it till it is gone. I'm still mixing in the Starter #4 with my BG mix and I still see lots of small BG along the shore line in shallow water going after it.

That is neat. You have convinced me to add a few HSB to my new pond this fall when I stock the first LMB. Plenty of minnows so they will be on their own (not regularly fed).

Snrub, you didn't have to crowd the SMB to feed train them? That's great. Ultimately I'd love to get some SMB feed trained. But busy with my Tiger Muskie and HSB this year. Next year I believe I'm going to attempt LMB, Pure Strain Muskie and more HSB again. But hopefully 2019 will put SMB on my itinerary.

Redonthehead, I don't think you can go wrong with HSB. My goals are much different than most in that I'm stocking HSB to help eliminate as much reproduction as possible in my pond (common carp in my case). But if stocked in the proper numbers I don't think you can go wrong. So many great things about them... 1) no reproduction 2) grow fast 3) aggressive 4) feed train readily 5) affordable and 6) fight like no other fish in a small pond.

I would like to try what you did next year. I am quite a bit closer to the hatchery so might just try to pick up a batch.

The SMB and feed is kind of a funny story. When I got my original 100 SMB Hartley delivered he said they would go to feed easily and that they fed them sinking feed he had a feed mill near him prepare. Well that was in December and the feeding season over so this spring I started putting out floating pellets to try and get the SMB to feed. My FHM took to the pellets fine but as far as I could see hitting the surface I never saw the original SMB eating. Maybe they were cleaning it up when is sank but I could never tell. Then about a month ago I started seeing SMB fingerlings in very shallow water (the summer water had cleared a lot so could see better). They would chase a small jig and I could see them hitting the starter pellets.

So the funny part of the story is that as far as I could tell my original stocked SMB did not take to the feed very much (I do see some larger fish hitting the larger pellets now) but the new recruits took to it pretty readily. At least some of them. Who knows how many. Some of them must eat a lot because I have caught a couple of 6" ones that their bellies are stuffed full and oozing out pellets out their anal opening.

I just kept putting out small amounts of pellets (not enough to foul the water - just a few cups in a one acre pond) even if I saw no activity. Figuring if they got hungry eventually they would eat. They did, at least some of them.

Interesting...... I've got a 2/3 acre pond with quite a few SMB hatched from this year, and I have about 4 gallon of Optimal Grower #4 I was trying to get rid of with my HSB. I think I'll go ahead and switch the HSB over to the Optimal Bluegill Junior and use the Grower #4 to attempt feed training of my YOY SMB!! Thank you for the idea, even if I should've thought of it months ago.

I would suggest mix the starter about half with BG Jr. Once they get about 5" they start to prefer the larger pellets.

The most efficient size pellet is one that is about 25% of average mouth gape.

� The pellet size should be approximately 20-30% of the size of the fish species mouth gape. Feeding too small a pellet results in inefficient feeding because more energy is used in finding and eating more pellets. Conversely, pellets that are too large will depress feeding and, in the extreme, cause choking. Select the largest sized feed the fish will actively eat.

When the water was clear and I could see the SMB feeding mid day when the sun was overhead I saw the selectivity first hand of pellet size. I was observing SMB from about 3.5" to about 6" in length.

Sometimes they would just race to a pellet and eat it. Other times they would race to a pellet, stop, and look at it then either eat it or pass. Then sometimes I would see them race to a pellet then at the last moment veer off their path and select a different size pellet near the original one they started after.

I could observe they definitely had a preference for larger pellets as the fish size was bigger.

The #4 Optimal starter works fine for the 3-4" SMB but much bigger and they prefer something larger. By the time they reach 6" they will already sometimes take the Optimal Bass pellets which are just slightly larger than AM600.

I feed some of the #4 starter (last year I used AM400) most of the year in my main pond. Just a couple of cups mixed in with my larger pellets. As I throw them out by hand as I am driving along in my UTV the larger pellets will naturally go out further and the small light pellets will land very near the shore line. Small 2-4" BG just gobble the starter pellets up right up next to shore. A few of the larger fish will get some and CC will Hoover up anything they can, but if the fish have a choice they will always eat up the pellets of their choice size then go after something larger or smaller than their choice.

BG will hammer an Optimal Hand Toss till either a big enough HBG comes along to eat it, it softens so they can tear it up and eat it, or the most likely a CC will come along and it is gone. A 12" CC can swallow an Optimal Hand Toss or AM LMB pellet.

I have been feeding whole 3-5" GSF live with tails cut off to my pet 2-4# CC along side my dock. I have seen the big boys hammer a 7" GSF as I toss it in. I cut off the tail clear into the meat so it is bleeding and can not swim faster than the CC. The CC will chase it down if they to not catch it when it first hits the water. Bamm!

Also have one or more 3-4# LMB that will get one if they get there early. Usually be the first or second fish I toss into the water. After that the CC pretty much dominate the scene and it is rare for a LMB to get a chance at a meal.

Finally caught a few to check on growth rates. The smaller one was about 3.5" and the larger one of these is about 4.75". The feeding has picked up significantly just in the last couple days. I've gotta say this is a great and easy fish project..... so far.

Those are really growing fast!

Feeding a bit more aggressively at 10 and a half weeks since delivery.

Wow those are really going after it!

What size feed are you now feeding and how much bigger do you think they are since the last pictures a couple weeks ago?

Maybe you threw the feed all together to show the aggressive feeding nature but I wondered if spreading it out a little more might prevent fish from spiking each other and doing some damage. I don't know if that is a problem but I did hear one comment from a fish hauler that he had trouble with the larger HSB hauling them, especially in warm weather, of damaging themselves by spiking then that causing problems with infections.

Nice work NEDOC !!

I'm feeding Optimal BG Jr right now. I can't really tell how much they've grown but may try to catch a few tomorrow and get an idea how much they've grown. I'll try to get pictures.

I have no idea if they are spiking each other. I'm not terribly worried because they bunch them in a much more confined environment when in an aquaculture environment. Part of the reason they are feeding more aggressively is due to the fact that usually I'm only feeding them once per day, as its still dark when I leave for work now.

I caught a few this weekend. Most were between 5-6". They're really beginning to increase their feeding. Also of note is that the nutrient load is really beginning to lead to filamentous algae issues. Not really much of a problem with steep sided lined pond. I pulled it all out in 15 minutes in my little lined grow out pond.

I got to see them today, but one look at me and the HSB were off their feed. I think NEDOC's fish don't like me.

One very impressive set of ponds and pondmeister! And helpers.

I was nearly sick to my stomach with disappointment. I'd been looking forward to showing my ponds off for days, and sure enough I had the slowest feeding of the entire summer when you show up. First time ever the tiger muskie didn't feed at all. And even the hybrid striped bass were slow feeding. Ugh......... But still great to meet you. I suggest we make this an annual event!! Thanks for stopping by.

No need to feel bad. The fish took one look at my ugly mug and said "enough"! Same thing happens at my pond when people visit. Amazing what fish take in above the surface.

C and I really enjoyed it. It is great to see what others are doing with ponds. Your pictures you post are good but it does not begin to show the overall layout of your property. What a great oasis in a sea of corn! Thanks so much for the hospitality.

Those are some beautiful fish. What a great thread you have made. Amazing what people can do with a little time and will. Keep the post and pictures coming.

With water temps in my grow out pond dropping into the 40s and 50s my HSB have quit feeding on the surface. So I took to experimenting with hydrated feeds. I hydrated some Optimal #2 and formed it into small wax worm looking shapes. About the third piece I threw in and it was game on. At first they wouldn't hit it til it was in the bottom one foot of the water column. But as I progressed they started hitting it in the top couple of feet in the water column. I probably went thru a pound or more of hydrated feed this way. Seems like a great way to extend the feeding season a bit.

The plan is to release them into the large pond within a couple weeks. I'll try to update the process then.

Great thread NEDOC. Hope to see some huge HSB come out of your big pond in the future.

With weather getting cold, it was time to say goodbye to my pet HSB. It was exactly 4 months to the day since I got them from Keo. Once again, I can't say enough good things about my experience with Keo and how great HSB were to work with. Such an easy fish to feed train and raise. We started with 1200 fish, and I'm guessing we finished with a very similar number. All raised in a 1100 sq ft, 6 ft deep pond. The fish ranged in size from 4" up to 6.5". I'd guess 80% of them were well over 5" with only a few 'runts'. This was our second pull with the 50' x 6' seine. I'm guessing we got 60% with the first pull, losing some when the net lifted over debris at the bottom. We went much slower with the second pull and seemed to have gotten almost all of them. All in all this was a great project that I'm guessing cost me about $700. I plan to grow out up to 2000 next year and will update this thread then.

PS Sorry about the video quality. 8 year olds aren't great at running the phone yet.

Really neat project

Just a little update for anyone that may try this. I received these fish from Keo Fish Farms (great place!!) last June 21. I'm guessing they were 1.5" at most when I received them. You can see the process of raising them above. Last fall I stocked 30 of them in my yard pond, which is 2/3 of an acre and has a dense FHM population. I stocked around a thousand in my other lake. They were fairly quiet all summer, but lately have come to the feeder in a significant way. Last night I finally caught one in my yard pond. And it was an amazing 13.5". That's 12" of growth in 15 months.

HSB are hooked directly to the accelerator pedal with turbo boost, as well, with regards to growth right out of the gate.

My HSB went it the pond during May of 2018 at 4-6" long, and in 3-1/2 months had doubled in length and weighed near a pound. I place the key in an abundance of FHM's. Now that my FHM's have all but vanished, the HSB have started showing themselves at feeding time which was extremely rare for the last year, but I can't catch one to save my life. The last one I caught was earlier this summer and it was 1.95 pounds and over 16" long...that's about a pound of growth per year. They are truly amazing growers, wish I could check this summer's growth...what'd you catch it on?

HSB are one of the few pond predator fish that can use (metabolize) carbs. They can become morbidly obese on a higher carb diet. With some fish forage (FH or small BG etc) and pellets they can have very high growth rates. Depending on location you can grow HSB to 10 lbs in 5-6 years (near normal life expectancy) with the right diet.

I caught mine a 1/32 jig head and a small piece of fish filet. I�ve been throwing out small pieces of fish filet in an effort to convert them to eating the abundance of trout entrails I have access to. I hadn�t seen any hit the small filet pieces but when I threw this out they hit it immediately. Once my FHM are decimated I assume I�ll get them converted quickly. I have access to thousands of pounds of trout guts per year, so HSB growth on unlimited trout guts should be fun to observe.

That�s my goal!

Love to catch HSB. Had to stop fishing for them last couple of months due to high water temps, but in another 4 to 6 weeks I'll resume. Feisty!

More than fun... That'll be a dream. It should be record breaking!

I may restock some HSB. I�m convinced that I had zero survivors from my stocking 25 of them back in Oct of 2015. No response to thrown feed. None ever caught, or sighted.
They sure look like they�d be a blast to catch.

Sorry, this was meant as a reply to SetterGuy......

I've read your posts on your HSB and kept assuming they would show up. Sorry to hear but I'm guessing they would've shown up by now if they survived. I think I'd stock several more than you think you need, if they survive you can always thin the herd.

One question, do you recall what range the water temp may have been in when you stocked them? Or what time of year? Bruce has told me if they are handled when water temps are in the 50s they are susceptible to acquiring fungus. And I experienced that with the several hundred I handled this spring.

What do you think happened? What size were the HSB and were there existing adult predators?

I stocked 100 HSB around 1st of april this year, they were the same 4-6" (new 2 acre pond) Last spring I stocked 15lb FHM 15lb GSH 100 BG
and 50 RES. I had massive FHM spawns. I started feeding MVP as soon as I stocked HSB and they were hitting it for a about a week, then it was like they were gone only BG and GSH were showing up. I was feeding 1/2 coffee can mvp at sunset almost every day. Some time in july they showed up and started hammering the feed. I started feeding 3/4 can still at sunset once a day. Around the middle of july we started trying to catch 1 They wouldn't hit anything, so we went and got some earthworms went to the pond a little before feeding time and bam got hammered within minutes. Every time we threw in got hammered. I had to shut it down I didn't want to hurt a bunch of them. Took the worms down there a couple weeks ago and same deal, they just smoked em. Weighed a couple they are just over 1 1/2lbs and the longest was 13 3/4. kept a couple to eat. I'm hoping sometime in october to relocate several to the freezer, if the worms continue to work.

It seems the HSB's feeding habits change on a dime. I'm sure some of it is temp related.

So, I picked up some worms and am heading to the pond shortly, wish me luck. I have used worms at the pond before but not during the HSB feeding time. I'm sure the HBG will keep me busy, but all I need is one HSB to keep me sane.

That's stellar growth Mike. My Dad and I once caught a mess of them fishing for walleye at Skiatook lake drifting a worm rig. Lots of fight in them. Your stocking plan very much intrigues me. Particularly the 100 BG (50/Acre). If they were fingerling, they will produce prodigious crops of YOY next year, if adults, you already have seen those prodigious crops of small BG. I think I favor the fingerling approach as the minnows were more than sufficient this year. Next year the minnow like fish will small BG and GSH and I suspect the growth of the HSB will again be excellent next year. Hope you start a thread on your BOW, it would be fun and interesting to follow it.

Dandy fish. 12" of growth but what amazes me is that the weight gain was in the neighborhood of 72900%. You know I bet you could do that annually without restocking minnows if you could get all the HSB out each fall. Minnows might even be self sustaining in a situation where the HSB persist year round but in that situation they might need protection like a portion of the pond that the HSB can't get into. Makes one wonder about the possibilities ...

Bruce Kania, IIRC, hinted that he had some method of protecting FHM from total annihilation. Don't know if it involved floating artificial islands, or maybe some sort of cage that would keep out predators, or what. Might be good to ask.

I had FHM stocked but they were gone within a year.