Thank you all for your input! I sincerely appreciate the different opinions and insights.
Theo those are some monsters! That would be exactly what I'm looking for, some trophy panfish for the fun of angling but also for the pan!
I completely understand the thought process behind putting in hybrids or RES due to their lower reproductive rates, but if I went that route, I'd need to follow in the footsteps of some of the others here in raising small RES and training them to accept feed to supplement their diet and grow them bigger. I'm not against doing that but it would be an additional step in the process. But it would be a worthwhile one for sure.
Do RES grow as big as BG and are they as catchable? Seems I can't catch them as well as the bluegill on the family farm. And by that I mean I know they're there, and I hardly catch any but maybe that's the exception, not the rule.
