Hey guys and gals, I'm new to the forum. So hello to all from Louisiana! I had a pond build (approx. 1 acre) at the end of last summer. It's about 8-10' deep. Early this spring, I stocked it with 500 CNB, 100 Red Ears, and 1000 FHM. I've never found a dead fish so I assume they're still alive. Of course, my pond is still very muddy with almost 0 visibility (I've been reading up on the alum threads). My question is: Whenever I feed, and I don't feed a large amount of food, I am yet to see my fish come up to feed. I'm using a small diameter pellet, but I only ever see a minnow swimming around. Is this normal for new, muddy ponds? Thanks in advance for all of the advice so far!

Howdy!

I too had a pond built last summer, which filled over the winter and was stocked on March 14th. My pond is only 0.4ish acres and I put in 200 BG, 100 RES and 100 HBG along with 10lb (2500ish) FHM. The pond is chocolate milk, with a LOT of suspended clay.

I am feeding Optimal Junior via a Molutree tripod directional feeder, 3 seconds in the morning and 4 seconds in the evening.

First couple weeks I saw VERY little fish activity when I would throw feed by hand...but after about a month fish would start hitting the pellets within 5 minutes of them being on the surface. It isn't ever a feeding frenzy, but there's probably fish hitting the top of the water every 10 seconds or so. Even before I set up the tripod feeder, I saw a lot more activity in the evenings, 6-7pm, than any other time.

I'd also note the fish in my pond have VERY subdued colors due to the suspended clay.

This RES was 3" when it was stocked nine weeks ago...now its 5" and growing quite nicely.

That looks a lot like an RES/GSF hybrid or maybe a BG/GSF hybrid.

Well, I did stock 100 HBG too...thought this guy was a redear since there is a muted but noticeable red halo on the ear flap.

I'm still learning too.

Either way, they're growing nicely!

No worries, I only mentioned because it really does look to me like it has RES heritage ... but I could be wrong. Did they tell you what the cross was?

The RES were 'pure', the HBG were BG/GSF.

Well it appears we were both incorrect. It's a very handsome fish the way it reflects the light. Good photo as well. It quadrupled its weight in 9 weeks, that is very good growth.

Yes - the picture is of one of your HBG. Do us a favor and take another picture of them in October and return here for the update. Let's see what they do in around four months. Thanks

Thanks for the reply and congrats on your success!

...and now 12.5 weeks after stocking...

Paul - Those two fish in your pictures are hybrid bluegill not RES. HBG go grow pretty fast. Your supplier did not sell you RES or maybe just some HBG were mixed in with the RES that he sold you. More angling adventures my tell the rest of the story. Keep showing us pictures of your sunfish and we will see if you are catching some pure RES. HBG do bite more aggressively and are easier to catch than RES.

Note those sunfish in your picture have lower fins (pelvic & anal) that have colored fin or fin margins. RES to not have that feature. Also note how big the mouth is on those HBG. RES mouth is not that big.

Thanks Bill, upthread you corrected my thought that it was a RES by telling me it was a HBG...I'm still learning all this stuff and the red halo on the ear flap of the first pic confused me. I meant to take the RES thing out of what I quoted today and just leave the time since stocking there...messed that up.

I stocked 100 RES, 100 HBG and 200 BG (all 3") on 14 March.

As a novice, the growth of these fish seems flat phenomenal to me; I caught probably 3 HBG and 4 maybe 5 BG today and the BG aren't quite as big as the hybrids but are still quite healthy. The Optimal Junior was definitely money well spent...

Caught this HBG today...8” long.



Also caught this 6.9” BG today...stocked at the same time as the HBG @ 3” length.



Cody says - Thanks for the sharing the pictures of your BG and HBG. They are growing well. Let's see what the do next year. Looking forward to it.

Those fish are well fed! Looks good, and I would guess your RES are growing at a similar rate to the pure BG-hopefully.
Healthy fish!