This may be a slightly moot point because the truck is on its way to stock my new 5 acre pond with CNBG this afternoon. Late last week another pond management company rep informed me that CNBG that come from certain hatcheries in Arkansas are not pure strain. He stated that he gets his fish from a Alabama hatchery.

I inquired to the pond mgt company that is doing my stocking and they insured me that while my fish were coming from a hatchery in Arkansas, they were pure strain CNBG. So this morning I called the hatchery in AR and the rep did not instill a high level of confidence in me that their fish are in fact pure strain.

So I thought I'd post this situation and see if anyone else has any thoughts or has had experience with a large Arkansas hatchery's CNBG. I asked the hatchery rep if his brood stock had the characteristics of the Florida pure strain and in summary he said "not really" but he believed that was due to the environmental differences occuring in AR vs deeper in the south.

The management company I am using is a very reputable company from what I know, so I dont think they would knowingly mislead me. I wish I had more lead time to research but I only learned about this 2 days ago.....oh well! I will be happy to get the first fish in the pond any how.

BTW, this is an awesome forum and fantastic resource for all. Long live Pondboss; I hope everyone using this forum continues to suscribe and support.