Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Boss Fact Check, HSB Article

Guys,
I just got off the phone with Mike Freeze of Keo Fish Farms. They, in fact, use female white bass x male stripers as their cross. He said he'd rather use the other cross, because the fry are larger and he can get lots more eggs from a female striper. But, female stripers' eggs don't mature until the water temperature hits 83, and in their ponds, the female stripers deteriorate in water so hot. He said that's why they use the "sunshine" cross. Mike and his partner, Martha, started Keo Fish Farm raised their first crop in 1983. About half that first crop was hybrid striped bass. They thought their main market was to sell fish to a burgeoning recreational market, but they soon realized their market was for food fish.
In early 1983, I evaluated a lake out on the Caprock, a fishing club called Horner Lake Club, between Plainview and Lubbock. It was about 30 acres, give or take. At that point, I had no sampling gear, so worked out a deal with Texas Tech's range management department to go learn about the fishery. We estimated there to be around 150,000 white crappie in that lake, average 4 inches, age 7 years, a little thicker than a postage stamp. That lake had been out of whack for years. The best idea we could figure out was to stock 8" hybrid stripers, since their budget was only $1,000. That was my first attempt at stocking hybrid stripers and the purpose was to see if they would eat enough of those little crappie that the lake could be reclaimed to grow largemouth bass again. It took several years, but the plan worked quite well and the club members were able to begin harvesting the hybrid stripers to make room for largemouth bass to again become their main game fish. I heard recently that that lake is a puddle, a victim of a long-standing drought.
After that point in time, several of us used hybrid stripers, mostly in ponds in north Texas and Oklahoma, but use was limited because all we could buy were small hybrids and most ponds had largemouth bass in them. Small hybrid stripers stocked into bass ponds quickly became a snack.
Very few of our customers had any interest in hybrid stripers because they didn't see the value. I had a hard time believing in them because we couldn't have a steady supply of 8-10" fish for stocking into existing ponds. For guys like us, it was either small fish or food sized fish. Food sized fish are almost impossible to transport. They die pretty easy.
The paradigm began to change when Todd Overton took fingerling hybrids and grew them into sizes that could survive in small waters. George Glazener, with his passion, dedication and his belief in Todd's abilities, teamed up to fill and promote a niche in the marketplace. My hat's off to both those guys. It took a few years to establish the paradigm change, but now people are beginning to see more value with hybrid stripers. Heck, they're a lot easier to manage than largemouth bass. What you stock is what you get.
So, a big round of applause to George and Todd for their perseverance and dedication to influence that niche in the marketplace. Kudos to you guys.
I'll print a correction in the March-April edition of Pond Boss, in Ask the Boss, with Todd's callout as the lead.