My limited experience with the HSB in our 2 acre pond has been nothing but positive. Last spring before stocking the HSB we trotlined out all the LMB and CC that we could catch.We had an abundance of stunted LMB and no spawn of the CC so I didn't think things were optimal for either.
We had tons of 2 to 4" BG and GS that I supposed were descended fron the Hybrid BG that had been stocked earlier.The BG were more of a nuisance than anything because they were so small and were real nippers when we would go swimming.
In May I put 120 HSB of 4 to 6" in a cage and got them acclimated to the pond for a few weeks. I lost about 6 while in the cage and let them go. I guess about 2/3 of them might have made it to present and I've tapered off on their feedings to 1X every other day to make them "Get to Work" on the smaller BG.
I have noticed that the bass we catch now are heavier with respect to their lengths, (right now we only keep LMB that are 14" or smaller) than before and we are catching more and more 8-9" BG where before we had runts.
While I agree that the HSB require feeding to really max them out , I see them as a asset to a recreational pond that everybody enjoys catching. I didn't get them with the intention of feeding them for the next 5 or 6 years, they are going to have be predators.
