Evaluation of Two Sizes of Hybrid Striped Bass for Introduction into Small Ponds

J. Wesley Neal , James A. Rice , Richard L. Noble
In conclusion, until the catastrophic fish kill events, hybrid bass survived well in these typical small southeastern ponds with established centrarchid communities. Hybrid bass growth was slower in these unmanaged ponds than in large reservoirs or intensive culture, and the decline in condition after stocking indicated that the centrarchid prey base was not ideal for hybrid bass. This suggests that use of hybrid bass in this manner for creation of private fisheries will be limited to low-density stocking for diversification purposes only. However, better results might be obtained in ponds with a different trophic structure that includes soft-rayed fishes, such as clupeids. Supplemental feeding would increase growth rates and condition as well, and could be a viable option in smaller systems and in commercial fee fishing operations.



The fish kills presented an unexpected opportunity to estimate survival for the period from stocking to the time of the fish kill in each pond. These kills were the result of unusual circumstances that also caused the death of largemouth bass and bluegills, typically successful pond species. Both kills resulted from extreme anoxic conditions during early morning rainstorms; each pond destratified allowing deeper water with high oxygen demand to mix with the low oxygen surface water. These ponds did not have a history of fish kills, so we considered these events to be unusual.

The underlying data from this study included extensive temp and DO data indicating that the LMB , BG and HSB had about the same tolerance for these conditions.