I have been interested in the possibility of stocking F1's but realize I may be a little too far north. I've tried researching how far north is acceptable but am finding very little. I see a lot of talk about the F1's being more cold tolerant but no specifics. I did hear rumor of them being stocked somewhere in New York state but haven't found anything more on that. New York state is actually further north than I am so if they had good results I would be encouraged. I get the impression not many have tried to push the limits and see how far north the F1's can be successful, but I'm sure a few of you have. My thinking currently is why not try it. If I could stock 50% F1 and 50% northerns and even if they only lived a few years I would have (hopefully) introduced better genetics to the pond. If they do die I've still got the northerns to fall back on.

And let the games begin....

It has been done with varying results. Bob did stock some in NY. It is not as easy as doing it as you state as the 2 will mix and you will over time have mostly FX fish not northerns and f1s. I don't know that the F1s will do much better if at all than northerns up north.

I added a hundred LMB to my main pond this fall because I thought the recruitment from my bass was just not there. They came from Dunn's out of Oklahoma and according to their web page they are "Florida hybrid/Northern Largemouth Bass" which I am assuming means they are F1 cross fish.

Hard telling how many of them got eaten by the established bass, but I have an abundance of BG (maybe an overabundance) so it was not like my original bass were starving for food. So hopefully half or 2/3 of them made it. They were about 4-5" long. Nice looking fish.

Dunn's delivers these fish as far north as about central Kansas so I would assume they think they are fine that far north.

I'm aware of what would happen as far as the breeding goes. If I knew I were OK to stock them I would look at stocking nothing but F1 bass and they would be tiger bass from American Sport Fish Hatchery. Probably triple up on the number of bluegill initially stocked and maybe stock nothing but female bass.

Slurp, the cold tolerance of an F1 is near, or the same. as a pure northern. I personally can't see any possible advantage for any Florida genetics in northern waters, and can see a lot of downside by adding Florida genetics in Iowa. I would expect the F1 to grow poorly, and Fx to repress future growth potential over pure northern black bass, or at best, no gain or loss over pure northern black bass. The Florida side of the F1 needs a long, warm growing season that Iowa just can't provide.

This may be thinking way too far outside the box, but could that surpressed growth actually be an advantage in a pond where the LMB are not the main focus but are instead mainly used to manage BG numbers where BG is the primary focus?

Is that logic just too twisted? Specifically using a poorer growing fish when LMB growth is not the main concern?

Edit: this line of thinking is definitely a thread hijack and maybe better if discussed in another thread.

What does Nate Herman have in his waters?

snrub an interesting thought! My guess is it will not work that way as poor results will give poor quality fish that are not healthy and active. Northerns will be more cold tolerant and active with a higher metabolism and growth rate thus eating more BG.

I mostly agree with Rainman but have not seen proof that F-1 has same cold tolerance as a northern. I do know F1 have a much better cold tolerance than Flas.

From personal experience, I can tell you that Nate Herman has prehistoric man-eating mako shark bass in his lake...

...and Northern LMB.

Prior to Bruce building his home, the quarry lake was stocked with what were marketed as F1 [Tiger]. They have done remarkably well under his influence as you'd imagine. SE NE has 2-3 months of water temps in the 30s. Either F1 can flourish this far North, or perhaps the fish are not true F1s.

Where did the fish come from TJ ? The source of the brood fish genetics is a key. All F1s are not created equal.

I don't know...was all before Bruce's time, stocked by the head of the HOA at the time. Just wanted to share it...if Bruce ever came around, he could fill in the blanks. IIRC they were marketed as "Tiger Bass" - F1 N/FL strain LMB if I'm not mistaken.

Would love to hear more. I'll have to do some digging and see what I can find out.

My first sentence "Slurp, the cold tolerance of an F1 is near, or the same. as a pure northern." agrees o the cold tolerance. My questions are about overall growth not being better than a northern in cooler clime, like Iowa.