Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Hybrid Bluegill Pond - Progress & Questions

Hello and thanks for reading. I have a small 1/5 acre pond in South Louisiana, average depth about 4-5'. This is a new pond dug in 2023. In June '24, conditions were finally right and I stocked approx. 700 HBG and 1000 FHM (another 1000 FHM in Sept. '24). I don't see the FHM very much but the pond is absolutely loaded with a few thousand gambusia that showed up naturally (these are very common in South LA ponds). Pond's purpose is to be a trophy HBG pond for backyard fishing anytime. I'm in the extreme South. It's very hot and rains a lot. I run aeration 24/7 due to this. This year, I've already had my first plankton bloom on Feb. 8 when temps were in the 80s for a few days. I'm using phosphate control, beneficial bacteria packets, and the occasional algae defense for water maintenance. I can already tell filamentous algae is going to be my primary algal issue. I was also using blue pond dye for a while but haven't since last Fall. Water clarity is good. Water parameters are good, sometimes alkalinity gets lower and adding lime has fixed the issue each time. I've been feeding Optimal Bluegill since August '24 and the fish are loving it. Feeder goes off twice per day for 2 and 3 seconds respectively. At this point, food disappears in about 4-5 minutes, lots of feeding activity.

Now onto the fun stuff and questions. My HBG are a little over 8 months old now and are progressing nicely imo. Here's some pics:






I know only 1 in 10 HBG are fertile. However, I've seen a lot of what has to be a second generation of HBGs. I have lots of smaller fish that it just doesn't seem plausible they are original stockings based on their small size. Additionally, I'm catching a lot of what I think is a 2nd gen/F2 hybrids. These fish have a different body shape, not the shape of a panfish, but also share some similar traits to the HBG (yellow-ish tipped fins, larger mouth, aggressiveness). Here's 2 pictures of what these fish look like:



What do you think these are? They are very aggressive and have larger mouths. Their scales have black specks on them randomly.

Here's some other questions I have:

1) Should I add more FHM? Is there another type of minnow I should add? Threadfin shad? Golden shiners? Anything that make good baitfish for the HBG.

2) I was told by the fishery where I purchased the HBG that I should add bass 1 year after the HBG for population control. With the amount of smaller HBG I'm seeing and catching, I definitely think it's time to do that soon. But how many LMB should I add to a pond my size? Here's an aerial pic of the pond:


Thanks in advance for any advice. I plan to update here as much as possible to show the progress, particularly at the 1 year stocking anniversary in June '25.