Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Stocking HSB in 100 acre lake with good LMB fishin

I am involved in the management of a 100 acre residential lake in East Texas. The lake has been stocked with TFS the last three years and has a good forage base of TFS, bluegills and golden shinners. LMB fishing is very good with good numbers of 4# plus taken. Largest this year is 10.5#. We have a lot of open water and we are considering stocking hybrid striped bass. I know this would involve supplemental feeders but my primary concern is how this might impact the LMB. I would appreciate all thoughts on this idea.

jdfish, welcome to Pond Boss, and we're glad you found us.

Wow, 100 acres! Crazy.

I'm not an expert, however, there are many here from TX and all over who can give more insight.

A few thoughts (and remember, it all depends on your goals!):
1) LMB and HSB do seem to live together well from my limited experience.
2) I don't think pellet feeding is an absolute necessity for HSB to thrive, but it certainly does help. HSB will eat any other kind of fish they can fit into their mouths in my experience.
3) As you indicated, it is said that HSB are more of an open water fish. Assuming that, they could impact your TFS population, and that should be considered
4) Any impacts can be minimized by the number of HSB that you stock. For 100 acres, it depends on how much you want to catch HSB to determine the stocking numbers. I would start low as you can always add more. The HSB don't spawn, so you can control their numbers. If you find them, and catch one, you can usually catch many, many more.
5) You would need to stock larger HSB, which are readily available, in order to minimize predation of HSB by the big 'ole LMBs.

Can anyone else give some input here?

Again, welcome aboard and hang tight. More to follow, I'm sure.

Welcome, jdfish!

HSB will eat any fish that fits in their mouths, but they may not neccesarily be good at catching some species. HSB will probably not have any significant impact on other game species when it comes to predation. i.e. HSB foraging habits have been studied extensively and aren't likely to spend a lot of time eating small largemouths and other desirables.

HSB do love threadfins.

Sunil's exactly right about needing to stock big enough HSB's to avoid predation. I wouldn't stock anything under 7 inches, and maybe even a little bigger if you have established LMB.

I know experts will say that HSB do not compete for the same food that LMB do. I have seen too many lakes that HSB have been put in that LMB health and numbers decreased. If shad is the main source of food in your lake and LMB and HSB eat them, then yes they are competing for the same food. In my opinion, HSB are eating machines. I have seen huge schools of them just devouring shad. Larger HSB will eat smaller LMB and bluegill. HSB tend to stay in open water but will come in shallow at night to feed. Look at your goals for the fishery and talk to more people that have HSB and LMB in your size of water. HSB are alot of fun to catch....but as a LMB guy, that is about the only good thing I have to say about them...HA !!

jdfish here is a link to a prior thread which might help. It contains a link to a study on HSB in ponds which contains a ton of info. There is a lot of HSB info here. If you have a good forage base and will be feeding then a moderate # of HSB (use advanced size stockers 10in) will not effect a balanced population of LMB. There will be some competition between adult HSB and smaller ( 10-14 in) LMB. I would suggest that a bigger problem than the HSB would be a LMB crowded lake if you don't harvest enough LMB.

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=1352&Number=14687#Post14687