a quote from shorty taken from
Illinois Longhorn\'s thread IL - your pond sounds very similar to one here in Lincoln that I have posted a few pictures of natuarly occuring hybrids. GSF when present in large numbers can actually do a very good job of keeping LMB numbers in check by eating almost all of the LMB fry that are produced durng the spawn. Before the BG and aquatic vegetation got established in this community lake in Lincoln it was pretty common to catch a pre spawn LMB that was 18" and weighed well over 5 lbs. If the similarities hold true I would guess that there is very little aquatic vegetation in your pond for YOY LMB to hide from GSF predation. I am guessing your LMB did spawn but that there were very few survivors that made it to adulthood.
so yeah shorty, that is a heck of an observation for me. this is as opposed to what i speculated on page 1 of this thread.........if i am attempting to manage for large bream, have alot of GSF and BG present, and add a limited number of bass (either spots or LMB) it sounds more likely i'll end up with a few gigantic bass and some really happy GSF as the bass try to recruit....hmmm.....it follows i may have a real hard time maintaining a stout BG population without adequate year round cover if both the GSF and bass are feeding on the BG. this is gonna be a real interesting experiment either way.
