This is only distantly related to our pond, but informative for nearly anyone. And, it's somewhat in praise of the often maligned green sunfish.
6 weeks ago I pulled 2 GSF from our pond, one abut 3" long, the 2", and introduced them to my 25 gallon aquarium. In less than one week they were coming to the glass when I walked by and were eagerly taking earthworms from my fingers. Meanwhile, the 11 month old tilapia were still darting for cover any time they could see me. Tilapia are ridiculously timid, even after living in captivity their whole lives. They were 1/2" long when I got them last summer.
A few weeks ago I removed the tilapia to a much larger tank as they'd out grown the 25 gallons. While I was away at the aquarium supply store getting goldfish and rosy reds for the 25 gallon tank, the GSF both jumped out of the aquarium. I found the larger of the two desiccated on the garage floor, stone dead. The smaller looked to be as dry, but before I trashed it, I noticed a bit of gill movement, like one partial flex per 3 seconds. "I'm not dead yet!" he tried to scream. Returned to the tank, he lay nearly still for a full day, started to uncoordinatedly swim on his side for a day, then returned to normal after a few more days. The end of his tail fin fell off. It had dried enough while on the floor to have died. He began trying to eat again, unable to swallow anything other than red wigglers for a bit. After a few more days rosy reds started disappearing! 2.5 inch long GSF swallowing 1.5 inch rosy reds. "Dang, I bought the minnows for my enjoyment, not for you to eat!" When a 1 3/4" long goldfish showed up with torn dorsal fin from being attacked, it was time for the GSF to move on to a different neighborhood.
All of this is to indicate just how tough GSF are. If you renovate a pond and have anything other than dry dirt for some period of time, do not be surprised if the glorious green sunfish survive the drawdown. It's been said a tub full of water remaining in a drained pond could harbor GSF survivors. That I certainly believe. They might be able to survive wet mud!
Bill Cody Note - This is a very good testimony about the toughness, durability and predatory nature of green sunfish.
