Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Stocking F1 in Oklahoma

I have a 2.5 acre pond near Ardmore, OK. It was stocked with native LMB 5 years ago.

I have been considering adding F1 to the mix next spring but I was reading on the ODWC website and they say that F1 don't do well in Oklahoma ponds because they don't handle the stress of the low temperatures and will die.

Does anyone, especially from the Ardmore area, have any experience with F1 in ponds?

I believe ODWC is wrong. F1's tend to do well in your transitional area abd offspring take on the cold tolerance tendancies of the parent fish best suited to your climate. Also, unlike most hybrids, Fx offspring continue to grow well.

Call Todd Overton at 1-866-Fish-Farm. He is probably the only source in the US for F-1's large enough to not be eaten upon stocking.

There is a study on how Fla LMB did in OK. It was so-so on the results. But F-1s should do fine in your location. The proof is in this pic which is from a hatchery in OK and these are F-1s.



I would call them as they often have larger F-1 for sale and they are acclimated to your climate.



Inslee Fish Farm Corporation
1400 E Seeley Chapel Rd
Ada, OK 74820
(580) 836-7150

Also you could call the Pond Boss office and talk to Bob he may have them and has used Inslee for F-1s.

I have considered Inslee because it is only about a 45 to 60 minute drive from my pond.

There is a place (Jone's Wholesale Bait) in the Ardmore area that sells them also but they don't grow them and I'm not sure where they get them.

They do offer mature fish from wherever they get them.

Ideally I would like to pick up the F1 when I stock Tilapia this spring and I plan on stocking Tilapia as soon as Overton's will make them available for my area.

I think Overton's said they usually make their Tilapia available after Easter. Would that be to early to stock F1?

Also does anyone have any recommendation as to how many to stock in a 2.5 acre pond?

Right now I have a pretty good balance in the pond and I don't want to upset it. I do harvest and I have caught several bass that were 6-10 oz heavier than their relative weight.

In fact the only fish I have caught that was undersize had a Yum Dinger in it's stomach.

If you are going to add adult LMB you need to take out an equal amount to maintain balance. Talk to Bob. IIRC he took some Inslee F-1s to New York and they did ok. Those fish obviously have the genetics to survive cold water. Locally adapted fish are your best bet.

There are 2 methods for stocking LMB into an existing LMB population. Small stockers at high #s or near adult fish at much lower #s. The second is IMO much better because of the control on the survivability factor. You should have high survivability on adult fish with low variability of outcome. Using small fish you have low survivability and high variability of outcome. That is low risk vs high risk. The % of small stocker LMB to survive to adulthood (1 year) can vary greatly and thus make the population outcome hard to estimate and even harder to balance and control. The best method IMO is to add a few adults each year for several years while taking out fish of that year class to make room prior to introduction.

Late winter/early spring is an ok time.

I plan on stocking mature F1. I don't want them to be a snack for the native LMB in there already.

Since Inslee's has been recommended a couple of times I will go with them and I'll go ahead and check with them for a recommendation on the best time for stocking too since they are familiar with the region.

Hadn't considered stocking over multiple years. Thanks for that bit of info.