Hey thanks everyone. Yeah that fish was caught in 2012! And I caught 1 other one about that size... So they got to be there I just can't seem to find them. And the only place I have not tried is deeper out. Come to think of it I did catch this one and the other in shallow water but is was spawning time when I did that....
RC
The nice one I caught this spring (slightly larger than the largest BG had been catching) was likely during spawn also.
I actually tried to avoid spawning sites so as to not disturb by brood stock, but sometimes the lure undoubtedly would come across a bed anyway.
In old pond the water has cleared and dropped somewhat (lack of significant rain and considerable evaporation). Saw one BG clearly on a nest and another nest nearby that looked like a GSF but could not tell for sure if it was pure or one of the hybrids I had put in from the main pond. Decided to find out and remove it if it was pure GSF. Took a number of attempts as it could clearly see me on the bank and knew what I was up to. But eventually I let the cut bait lay in the nest long enough and I saw it pick up and caught it. It was a hybrid, and although I did not necessarily want hybrids with a lot of GSF characteristics breeding, did not want to remove the fish from the pond. Tossed it back in, and it went right back on the nest. I always wondered how much we affect a fish on a nest by catching them, and at least this one went right back and started defending it from the numerous tiny GSF raiding the nest. I reached out with a stick and scratched the nest all up (since this was not a desired breeder anyway) just to see what it would do. Went back next day and the nest was abandoned. BG was still on the one a few feet away. Was just an experiment to see what would happen. Thought it was interesting.
