Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Where are my HSB?

(1/4 pond Middle TN) So....last couple weeks w/temps in the 60's/70's, even a couple days in the 80's-- I restarted feeding (upcoming weather predictions are mixed; I'll adjust daily as we approach spring. Next week supposed to dip into high 20's, so we'll see.) SBS and forage fish hitting the feed hard, but I have seen no sign of the dozen HSB 5-7" I stocked at the end of Oct. No sign of any die-off. I assume I'll start seeing them with the arrival of full-on spring next month?

The larger sizes are less susceptible to transport stress. If you stock 2 different sizes, Just clip a pelvic fin off of each size. For instance, left one on one size and the right one on the other size. That way you can track growth rates.

BJ...I had the exact same question...where are my HSB! I have stocked a few hybrid stripers every 2-3 years. Never saw or caught any the first year or two. After that caught 1-2 maybe a few times a year. Now we catch them more often and we see them at the feeder. We usually catch them on large and small minnows, and sometimes on a lure. George would be upset I haven't tried flies yet. Not sure what changed, but I was worried they had been eaten by otters or disappeared.

BJ Nick. Just an fyi, I stocked HSB 12 years ago. Caught one a few years ago. Restocked again. Caught one of those. I think I remember reading somewhere that HSB are pretty sensitive to some ph levels. I think my pond has one of those ph levels. Our SMB, RES, and Golden Shiners have done well. Our YP have just done ok..

FWIW, I stocked HSB in my pond in September ‘23 caught the first one the following May, didn’t see another one until September ‘24 where I caught 5 of them. I caught 1 in all of ‘25, now we are in March ‘26 where I have caught 7 of them in the last 3 weeks.
The first year I thought most were gone. They are definitely feeding as I can hear the huge splash but no visible sign because they are so far out in the water column. They are also growing at an enormous rate so they have to be feeding on pellets along with their shiner forage. If you are feeding MVP or a food that partially sinks my guess is they are taking the sinking food

Regarding the HSB and survivability/visibility:

We stocked 100 8-10"HSB in in our 11 acre pond back in early June '25. I did not see them again, feeding or otherwise, until late September and they were regulars through the fall until we stopped feeding. Their feeder activity ramped up as the bluegill and bass activity at the feeder slowed and was quick to start up again when we started feeding again in march. I would expect their feeding to slow as it gets warmer and they seek deeper, cooler water. We only observe them feeding at one of our three feeders. This feeder has the most direct access to the 1-2 acres of very deep (25-40ft), open water by the dam so I imagine they spend most of their time in that part of the pond.

HSB can/will feed at lower water temps than BG and LMB. Keep that in mind when timing HSB feeding. Also know that unlike LMB and BG, HSB can metabolize carbs in fish food so they can (usually don't in pond enviros) get morbidly obese on high vols of fish food.