I absolutely guarantee you that your HSB will eat carp. Researchers who evaluate stomach contents of HSB commonly find carp and other rough fish present. The question is, will HSB forage on carp, in a pond setting, efficiently enough to make a significant dent in the population.
To understand the problem, one must first know a little bit about what makes HSB click. Like all predator fish, HSB follow what is commonly referred to �Optimal Foraging Theory�, which is to put it simply, a fish�s need to consume more calories than it expends over a period of time. Fish that don�t follow this edict live at the shallow end of the gene pool. I believe Darwin coined a term for these fish�I think it was �extinct�. Wipers look like they do for a reason. They�re built for short powerful bursts of speed and their markings�the lateral bars�are great camouflages for feeding in schools just under the waves. I�ve watched them feeding with snorkel gear and, believe me, they just appear out of nowhere and just hammer prey items near the surface. Pellet or fathead, it doesn�t matter. They pop up out of the depths and make quick work of whatever they�re eating. Don�t let anyone tell you that HSB need clear water either. The prey item can�t see any better than they can. One local lake, Bluestem Reservoir has given up HSB over 14 pounds, often in great body condition, and the water quality is always poor. Secchi readings rarely exceed 8 inches. Sight feeders don�t rely on great vision as much as they rely on having better vision than the snack they�re after. That�s probably why HSB feed so well at dusk, or right after a brisk wind picks up. Sudden decrease in light level likely disorients gizzard for a period of time and the HSB intuitively knows this.
Interestingly enough, a HSB is quite at home foraging on the bottom as well. Two out of the five world record wipers that I�ve caught struck on a bucktail that was essentially being dragged along the bottom. Even more amazing is the fact that many huge HSB have been caught on liver. I�ve seen it too many times for it to be a fluke. Big wipers go nuts for chicken liver. Here�s where Optimal Foraging Theory comes into play. HSB traveling in schools under a ball of shad on a nice breezy, warm afternoon work as a group, slashing, thrashing and creating general havoc. Shad are injured, confused and came become mistake prone. Calorie in/Calorie out ratios go through the roof. Contrarily, a HSB trying to pick off individual young-of-the-year carp by himself is in much more of a hit or miss proposition. Over time the HSB may use up more calories than he collects. Consequently he will only make the effort to take the little devils if they appear injured or stupid�and believe me, there aren�t many stupid carp.
You may be wondering by this time if I actually have a point to all this. I�ll try to summarize. HSB love carp, they just don�t like the effort involved in collecting them. Pellets don�t have a very good escape mechanism and will always be the preferred prey item. Don�t expect any great decrease in carp numbers.
By the way, I love the idea of using a smaller pond to grow out HSB before placing them in the larger water body. This is what I do at my place.
Last year I ordered 1000 HSB which I grew out from their original length of one-inchers for four months. After grow out the fish ranged from 2.5 inches to 8.5 inches. This will allow you to transfer, if you wish, just the fast growing, high conversion fish to the twenty acre lake after grow out. These fish will make the best use of your pellets, be more likely to be fish eaters, and hopefully produce less waste from the feed consumed.
Bruce
P.S. I bet you wouldn't drive to Dallas for a Big Mac...even if it was free. Another example of Optimal Foraging Theory.
