Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Fish ID?

So what is it? When I first pulled it out, I thought GSF because of the length and larger mouth. But all the GSF I have been catching in the pond aren't colored this way. So I am thinking BGxGSF, with it leaning towards mostly BG. Lookes to be full of eggs at this smaller size too(would that make it more likely GSF?).

I agree...I think it looks like a BG x GSF. Does look female.

A very high % of HBG (BG X GSF)are males (in the 95% range). Coloring is mostly male for a BG. Mouth and fins look GSF. Did you look at the gill rakers or urogenital opening?

No, but I still have it in a bucket.

Put it under the knife!

So, have been looking at pics of gill rakers. I am wondering how that may help, because the BG and GSF are very similar, if I am seeing it right?

I can understand the logic that it would be rare to have a female BGXGSF. In pond management, should female BGXGSF be removed because their offspring is bad? I thought they mostly revert back to a strong tendency of BG.

I remove all female hybrids that we catch, and we do catch a few. I don't think it's rare to find a female. Uncommon perhaps?



I caught these 8 females all in a row, within 15 minutes of each other.

Wow, those are some healthy looking Gills, Sprk!

What time is dinner, and are they gravid as well? (just wondering if there would be fried eggs on the menu )

Nice fish Sprk !!! I wonder if you have something genetically uncommon going on. There should be a very small chance 5%+- that you would catch a female HBG.

If Yolk Sac reads what ewest wrote, I'll never hear the end of it.


This catch happened in the early stages of my HBG endeavor. I remember being completely freaked out at catching 8 gravid females in a row...."I thought these things were predominantly male?? Now what's going to happen to my carefully laid plans"???

Turns out, I was worried over nothing. The pond didn't explode with stunted green sunfish, and when you do the math the numbers still work:

500 fish stocked at 97% male = 15 females present.

The weird part was catching all of them back to back from the same location, which was deep water nowhere near the spawning areas being utilized by the fellows. The girls weren't staged in deeper water adjacent to the bedding males, they were out in the middle of the pond, apparently together in a group.

Yes they were gravid, and we ate them...eggs and all. I've caught many females since then, but never in those quantities

The females at this particular time during the year were likely most all concentrated together since males were at shallow locations with creating spawning sites 'on their minds'

I though you were describing another (second) event not the original one. If that became common I would be scratching my head.

Definitive female HBG caught this evening. Classic girl, 1 lb 3 ozs.

In the creation of HBG, do the fish hatcheries(or pond management) prefer a male or female GSF?

Sprkplug, hopefully my fyke net will show up soon, and I'll have lot's of hybrid pics. I'll need some identification 101 help for sure.

Every fish will get a great home, I'm just not sure what the address will be yet.

In most cases a female GSF is used. It sticks in my mind that using a male GSF will result in a higher percentage of female offspring, but I could be way off base.

Al, I know a professional type in Nashville who I'm sure would be thrilled at the prospect of having another fish introduced into his pond.

He's not one to ask you outright, so you might want to keep the stocking efforts on the down low. No need to mention my name either, as I prefer my good deeds remain anonymous. It's reward enough just knowing I helped a fellow pondbosser out.

Tony, your sharing attitude is what makes this forum so great. Always thinking of others.

Maybe a midnight fish drop to Nashville could be Rex's first haul with the new truck. That way, we could both be anonymous.

Absolutely brilliant. Rex gets to try out the new truck, you find a home for your fish, and a fellow pondmeister gets to experience the miracle that is hybridization, up close and personal. I'm very nearly choked up just from thinking about all the good that will be accomplished, by virtue of our selfless efforts.

Gentlemen,
Although I greatly appreciate your considered interest in my as yet unsullied operations, I regret to inform you that the possibility of your "assistance" has already occurred to me, and I have taken appropriate preemptive precautions. Presciently predicting that these efforts might be propagated through Rex, I have created an impenetrable defense. Composed of individual elements, once deployed each of these is permanently activated, becomes stronger over time, has an inexhaustible power supply, and requires no maintenance. Most importantly, each of these defensive units is specifically designed only to target Rex, and is safe to use even around small children.
Therefore, I would ask, out of consideration for my friend Rex and his well chronicled efforts to get back on the road, that you find another vehicle for your insidious endeavors.

I feel that this question, which I interpret to be an editorial comment by the Master of Understatement, requires no further editorializing on my part.

Watch out Yolk, they are fixin' to get rid of their inferior grade of HBG's. What I mean by that is I was trying to look at those gill rakers and I dropped the fish in the photo above at least two or three times, maybe four, and it did not perish. And this was on a hard brick surface. However, Spark's HBG perish on the first plunge!!!! Inferior gene pool there if you ask me. Then on top of it, notice how he tried to steer me towards putting a knife to it, further proof he wants to eliminate the competition.

Field ops:

Operation Cyanellus Rex now terminated. Operation Hybridflyer will commence shortly.

Outrageous. I hadn't even considered the possibility of such duplicity. Do you think Sparky is trying to harness the energies of the forum in an attempt to corner the market on HBG?

There are no "inferior" grades of HBG. Only subordinates who have not yet risen through the ranks.........