Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Is this a GSF, and should I be committed?

All I'm saying is that size is relevant to the observer. I think that everyone on this forum would agree that a 2lb. BG is an exceptional fish. I would also feel safe in stating that a 1lb. BG wouldn't raise many eyebrows. I have been BG fishing for 40 years, and I am still waiting to catch my first honest-to-goodness 1lb fish. Around these parts they are about as scarce as dna from a sasquatch. Both Native and hybrid BG will achieve the sizes you listed, it's just that around here most folks either aren't willing, or plain don't know how, to manage for trophy sunfish. They add BG to the pond because that's how it's always been done. There's no research or science behind the decision making process, other than talking to the fish supplier. Here's what I believe, and I don't have one shred of evidence to back this up, just a gut feeling. Let's say you dig two identical ponds, let them sit empty for a couple years, then stock one with native BG, and the other with the same amount and size of HBG. Add some fathead minnows. Then 6 months later, add an equal amount of 6" LMB to each one. Thus ends any and all pond management on your part. Wait a year, for everything to "get some size to it", then turn your friends, family, and yes, allow yourself, onto your new honey holes. Wait another 2 years. Which pond has the biggest BG in it now? My money's on the hybrid pond. Why? cause' the LMB have been fished to near extinction, the native BG have taken advantage of the reduced predator base and reproduced themselves to several digits left of the decimal point. Over in the hybrid pond, the severe male bias of the hybridization has allowed the remaining LMB to do a better job keeping the reproduction in check. In addition, the larger mouth of a HBG has allowed them to consume prey items too large for BG. More food available means more growth. Remember, this is a real world unmanaged pond. No supplemental feeding has, or is occuring. This is what I see around the county roads in my neighborhood, although I'm trying to talk to anyone who will listen about management practices. It's just not easy to convine some folks that the work and the expense doesn't end when the fish are stocked.