Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding HSB not growing

I have a 1.5 acre pond 7 yrs old with LMB ,CC and regular Bluegills. The bass and cat are growing fine, but the bluegills are not. I assumed there are too many of them so I added 100 8in.Bass and 150 Hybrid Stripers last fall.
The bluegill situation has improved a little but any of the HSB that have been caught or trapped are the same size now as last Oct. when put in. What can I do to realize my dream of 5 lb stripers? Were HSB a mistake?
I have a fish feeder that only dispenses 50 lb of feed per season. Also the LMB are fat but stalled out at 2.5lb. We have 3 different stockings of LMB but every LMB we catch is 2.5 lb. My goals are big bluegills 3lb plus HSB and 3lb. plus LMB. Do catfish compete with the other fish? A lot of them have been taken out, should I replace them? Thanks, Kevin

Kevin, welcome to the PB forum.

The following link may help answer your questions.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000115

There are experts on the forum that are well qualified to address your questions, but I will share my N.E. Texas HSB experience with you.

What size were your HSB that you stocked last fall?
If the were less than 8 – 10 inches when stocked last fall in a 7 year old pond with mature LMB, I would expect severe predation to be a major problem.

Also we feed our HSB high protein fish food at the rate of 3 lbs/acre/day to get maximum first year growth in the range of 1 to 1 ½ lbs.

This feeding schedule is for spring and fall months - adjusted downward during hot weather and cold weather months, based on how much feed consumed in approx 15 minute periods.

Hope this will help and others jump in…

I'm with George. We need to know what size HSBs were stocked initially, and if you know that they were feedtrained. Also, get yourself some 40% protein or higher floating fish food and implement the feeding program as George does.

What is the time line on your pond? What was stocked , when and sizes and numbers? Have you seen any 6-8 in BG?

HSB were 6-8 in. long about the same as now, came from a hatchery in western Iowa, dont know if they were feed trained. Bluegill were only put in once, 6 yrs ago. Bass and Cat are periodically restocked. The very biggest Bluegill is about 6 -7 in. and they are rare. Also we rarely catch a young bass. Is this common? I beleive HSB are there just not growing. Is a bigger capicity feeder a must? Thanks Kevin

As stated above, an aggressive supplemental feeding program is necessary for HSB unless you have an overpopulation of forage fish, or other fish that need to be controlled such as green sunfish or crappie.

I would suggest an annual supplemental fall stocking program of 8 – 10 inch HSB, as discussed in the following link.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000115

Search the archives for HSB – there is a wealth of information on the subject.
Good luck on your program.