Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Ken's Fish Hatchery -Absolute Auction

Auction next Sat, lot's of personal stuff but the "packed out buildings" probably full of stuff of interest to many here. All the usual disclaimers.

http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/auctionview.cgi?lid=2934216

Does anyone know if Ken's Fish Hatchery is closed or going out of business or are they just selling primarily household items?

Ken has passed away and Judging from the feedback on FB from customers it appears they are out of biz .

Sad picked up fish three times at Kens his health was not good then.
Do not think he had the family to take over.
If your new to the site search "Georgia Giants" holy crap
It was quite an operation would like to know what is being sold.
Wonder if Bubba is for sale

Bill I guess Ken's son tried to run the business...no telling what happened.

http://wfxl.com/news/local/kens-fish-hatchery-and-farm-legacy-continued-by-son

Bubba and Hogzilla could all be auctioned off for....like......uh.....well.....

Zep, I was trying to be diplomatic when i said he did not have the family to take over. He had a large house on the property where the hatchery was. Him and his wife lived there, my guess is most thing being sold is from the house.
If you'll remember his son Jason posted once and when he saw what he got into never posted again.
Saturdays at Ken's was a blast, usually 20 or so guys pond lovers there to pick up fish from all over the southeast, always hated to leave

Hatcheries are a magical place. RIP Ken and best of luck to his family. Thanks for the update Bill !

I must have come aboard after the GG controversy. Time to dig in the archives. This post was a funny read though. Wish Jason had come back to tell us his side of the story.


Georgia Giant Bream

I wonder if FISHFAN from Delaware is still on the forum and can tell us how his GG fared?

I was reading Deb King's old posts (she worked with Ken). She had an interesting post about how they actually spent time developing a way to pellet train bullfrogs and it worked!

Wow....Clicked on this which led me to the past GG discussions. That's interesting (if not scary). It entertained me as much as the very first time I discovered this forum when looking for a DIY weed killer for the edge of a pond. Someone offered up a vinegar/salt recipe and some other guy was convinced that a tablespoon of salt going into your pond every couple months would eventually destroy every body of water in a 2 mile radius He argued his tail off with anyone until Bill or Bob shut him down. Not quite the same, but equally entertaining. Fun seeing a little passion in grown men with fish on the brain.

Quote from Deb:
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The Georgia Giant is a hybrid bream that displays extreme aggressiveness and a quick growth rate. Only one or two members of this forum (other than myself) have had experience with this particular fish, but many other professionals here have vast knowledge of this topic in general. Currently two forum members are working on projects (to be stocked in late November) to document current growth rates and viability of this fish.

Facts:
1. Most hybrid sunfish are a cross between a standard bluegill and a green sunfish. This is not the case with the Georgia Giant. It is actually a genetic combination of several species of bluegill.
2. The fish was developed about 30 years ago by a South Georgia fishery specialist after dabbling for almost ten years with different crosses of the species bluegill.
3. Documentation of growth rates was done in the early years (through rough notes and photography), but is now "buried" in piles of research. The developer moved on to other projects once he felt he had "proven" his fish. This is why the two current projects listed above are underway.
4. A 12 week study was done to compare the GG with other hybrid bluegill by the West Va State College Department of Biology. This test proved that during the three month test period the GG had a 400% better growth rate than the standard hybrid bluegill while consuming less feed.
5. Ohio state has just started a two year project on the long term results of the GG versus the standard hybrid.
6. The GG hybrid does reproduce, but subsequent generations are not as desired as the original F-1 stock, thus the need for predator intervention. Any hybrid's offspring are unpredictable.
7. No hybrid offspring REVERTS to it's parent stock. Each offspring will display features and characteristics of its parents, but at no time will it "turn into" another fish.

Opinion:
An excellent hybrid sunfish if you are looking for rapid growth, aggressiveness, and tastiness in a perch. This fish need not be combined in a pond with other bluegill due to the potential for cross breeding. Predators MUST be introduced to dispose of offspring allowing for maximum growth of original stock. If you are only looking for a forage fish in order to grow world record bass, the GG is not the fish to stock. On the other hand, if you are into large bream that bite quick and fight hard (good for kids both old and young) you might consider them an option.

Deb

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Did anyone get to read the 12 week W VA Biology dept study or see the results of the Ohio State research? Surely that data should be freely available to all of us?

FYI Deb was fed up with Ken by time she left

Sometimes it is best to leave sleeping dogs alone. That thread caused lots of discord here. Even though all were well intentioned and good people it got out of hand. It is funny to look back now and reflect but not revive the arguments. Funny thing is many involved actually met at the PB Atlanta meeting and had a great time. Here is the thread don't know if you can see the pics.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=339664&page=2

Maybe Jim Wetzel can explain how one gets a multi- or a several species combination to be genetically consistent with high production numbers each year. As explained above for GG "Most hybrid sunfish are a cross between a standard bluegill and a green sunfish. This is not the case with the Georgia Giant. It is actually a genetic combination of several species of bluegill."

As I understand reproductive potential of a HBG, they are not real prolific. So if we have a 2 specie hybrid and cross it with a pure strain sunfish how do we get offspring in high numbers for dependable annual sales for a fish farm?

Great question Bill, I'd love to know too.

...and Ewest stimulating scientific discussion or discovery was my intention in reposting part of Deb's post. I certainly don't want to stir up trouble. She was very well-intentioned in her explanation and seemed well informed too. It is a mystery that only 2 people in the world knew the truth about how these fish were made, but that is what folklore is made from.

This all happened before I was on pondboss so this is new info to me. It seems that good people took the situation seriously and wanted to know how it worked. If 2 biology research stations wanted to do research on GG fish that means someone else took it seriously as well.

Can someone research how far those studies in VA and OH went? Or maybe they never got started?

Bill asks a fabulous question, maybe the new folks on the forum can work together in a productive fashion and what we learn together can start new experiments in hybrid-hybrids!

Are there any GG alive for testing? It sounds like PB member FISHFAN has some or had some in his pond?

A while back there was a thread about a new super hybrid panfish (bluegill) developed and sold in Arkansas that again was top secret and was given a special name and was only sold by one fish farm. That thread never really took off but I wonder if that fish farm is finding success with their unique hybrid-hybrid?

Edit... I did some digging and found the fish was called the Southern Specklebelly Sunfish. The SSS Still is for sale if you consult Google. I'd love to hear some real life stories on how it grows, and if customers are happy.

According to information available it began in 2005 and ended in 2010.

https://reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpa...nitiatives.html