It is unlikely that Fenders in Coshocton will have large BG this time of year. I have known them well since the 1980's. Fall is when they normally have the large 8" BG that can be reliably sexually recognized. Plus few if any fish farms want to sell fish when water is 80F due to difficulty of handing fish in warm water. I doubt that Fenders will sort males from the stock, plus they will likely not agree that you need mostly males to suppress your small BG spawning activity. IMO they will 'push' mixed sex adults or 5"-7" fish.
Few of your fingerling fish will eat the standard size fish pellets. Buying 50 lbs of fish food now with just your 'package' fingerlings could be IMO a waste of money since those fingerlings purchased will not eat much food from now till late fall. They can survive okay until fall or spring on natural pond foods. One generally should not hold fish food for longer than 8-10 months before it is all fed. I doubt that you received pure all BG fingerlings from Zetts. Don't be surprised if you have a few GSF or hybridBG show up the angler catches in a few years.
Snrub and JohnF have good options. Removing bass will lessen the predation pressure on your forage fish. Although you will likely need good predation pressure of the spawn from your current BG nests. Yes - Often large BG will self-train to pellets but getting them now from a fish farm will likely be a problem. If the adult BG eat some fish fry that is a good thing in your current situation. Since you don't live at the pond, and at this point of mid summer, your simplest and easiest option is probably to work with your current fish package and then in fall assess your situation, then maybe make some changes or adjust in spring.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 06/26/16 04:14 PM.
