After a July 2016 D0 fish kill in my 9ac pond in Chester SC, I added aeration system and confirmed BG and TFS survived. I added 150 -10"-12"LMB in fall 2016 and 200 6"-8"HSB fall of 2016 and 150 HSB in spring 2017. I can now easily catch BG and LMB but have not caught any HSB. Any thoughts on what is going on? Will HSB need need more time to grow?I would appreciate your response. Thanks-Al Allison

9 acres is a lot of open water for fish 350 fish to disperse into....Once you figure out their feeding pattern you will have a better shot of hooking one.

So your HSB should be around 12 to 13 inches maybe. They are a little hard to catch at times. They like open water and in a 9ac lake it may take some time to find them. Try chunking a 3 inch swim bait around or maybe a small crankbait that goes about 4 feet deep. If they are feed trained and your feeding them a lot you may not catch nay for a while on artificial bait. Also what works is a nice 3 inch shiner under a bobber set bobber about 2 to 3 feet above bait and cast it out. They are there trust me.

RC

Thanks-I am just hoping they weren't tasty meals for a cormorant.

I have a good population of TFS- will net a few and give it a try. Thanks for the reply.

I've had 25 HSB in my one acre pond for almost two years. I know they are there, but I can't catch one. I think I've just got too much other stuff for them to eat. I've tried chicken liver, minnows, 1.5" HBG, and various crank baits. One of these days I'll get one.

I hate cormorants, they hit my pond real hard in 2015 and I found 12 to 14" HSB dead and floating along with hundreds of tfs and some nice sized cnbg from those dam birds. I hate em ! Now if I have any come close to the pond I will run them off the best I can. And as far as my HSB, I ladder stocked them at 10" to 16" for the past couple of years and if you have stocked 25 per acre and they are at 10" in size, I would expect to catch some of them. My hsb have been pretty aggressive and are pretty easy to catch using streamer type fly's when fly fishing or road runner type jigs with ultra light rods. And I would expect to see them feeding on the tfs at the surface

If you know what they are. You could also try a Zoom Super Fluke. They work good on HSB and LMB. Kind of a twitch type bait and it's weed less. My Mom caught this 5 pounder Saturday on a Silver and Black one. The white also works good.

Dog-gonnit RC, You keep catching those HSB.. They look great, and I know they've got to be a blast to catch. Mine are proving to be impossible to catch.
One of these days...

Hey Setter they are crazy when you hook up! You will know right away you got something else on that don't feel right!! lol. Just make sure you have your drag set right on them or you will be snapping line all day long... Cause when they pull they pull like a train!! We had to keep this one for the table as my pond was just to warm and it would not revive right. I didn't want it to go to waste that's for sure as they are some good eating!!

RC