I stocked my pond about 2 years ago with FHM, BG, CC, and a few RES later on or at least that's what I was told (all from fish trucks). I didn't fish the pond for over a year, just feeding and enjoying the stress of watching my water level and rain forecasts. After I started fishing I realized what I was catching did not look like BG or RES. Can someone confirm what these are?


edit: after 20+ gsf I pulled up this little guy


Thank you!

Those are green sunfish or some genetic composite very close to GSF. Those are big enough to invite to dinner.

Thanks for the reply. I was pretty sure but wanted a second opinion since I had not stocked them. There's a slim chance they came from a nearby pond but I hadn't stocked them so I was a little frustrated. The good news is that these things will bite at almost anything so you rarely reel in without catching something! It's only 1/4acre so i'm wondering if transplanting 1 or 2 LMB would slow them down enough? There are so many fry I'm sure it will be overpopulated before too long if left unchecked.

Guppy1, what are your goals for the pond? If what you want is a panfish and catfish pond, then the GSF and CC operation just may be a good one, rather than a BG and CC combo. The GSF will not recruit as fast as the BG will, so your fishing and the CC's eating stand a better chance of keeping them under control. You can supplementally feed both the sunfish and the cats to increase production.

As quarteracre said in your other post, embrace those greenies. They fight well, are quite tasty, and aggressively take small lures. In their place, they are not an inferior fish. BG are wonderful but they come with their own set of management problems.

If you add LMB, it might be best to add single sex bass. My pond is 1/4 acre. LMB attempt to upset the apple cart at all opportunities. I ruthlessly cull so that my YP, GSF, and BG stand a chance. A pond this size certainly is easier to influence by harvest than one over an acre in size.

I'm no expert on this. I just can see what's working for me.

I agree with 4corners that the GSF are beneficial in the catfish/panfish scenario. It's up to you. Unless you want LMB, there is no need for them if you have a large catfish focus. Neither LMB nor large catfish will do as well as they could without the other.

In addition to points already made, the GSF help the BG in your pond grow faster and larger. They have a big gape and help to crop smaller BG and occasionally hybridize with BG. The hybrids have improved early vigor that helps them outcompete the parental species in the their 0-year. Because the hybrids are mostly males and generally are unsuccessful in reproducing when the parental species are present, overall numbers of panfish YOY are inhibited by the presence of both the hybrids and the GSF.

The LMB will also help you grow larger panfish and are better for that purpose than catfish. To grow large panfish, the predator needs to be large in number and small in size and focused on the smaller sizes of YOY. This prevents few panfish reaching the 3" size. Catfish are 18" long before they are predatory to a significant degree. They will focus on >3" panfish primarily. This isn't a problem if you are focused on larger catfish because there will be plenty of forage for the big cats. Even so, BG can stunt with catfish as the lone predator and if you wanted to also harvest panfish you need small predators too. The GSF are filling a role in your bow that is similar to 4" to 8" LMB but with the added benefit of being prey for large cats. They of course, will not be as good a predator as LMB but the effect of increasing panfish size and reducing overall number will still be present. So if it is catfish you are focused on and if you do not really want LMB, then it may behoove you to release the GSF and focus on BG and hybrids for panfish harvest.

4CornersPuddle and jpsdad thanks, it sounds like having the GSF population may work out well for me. I feel like I had read several posts that described them as more of a nuisance than anything so I thought having them was a problem. My plan has been a CC GSF pond so I think I'll just restock them next time the truck comes around and maybe toss in a single LMB from a nearby creek for fun.

since you aren't sure that the fish truck misled you (they may actually HAVE given you RES) then the GSF may have come from another local water source. If the GSH came in on their own, you could have LMB as well? If so then adding more could produce that dreaded Male plus Female LMB equals unlimited LMB that others are struggling with.

You may want to set some fine mesh 'make them yourself' fish traps and see what you can sample from your pond. The older RES stay deep and do not easily go in traps but the younger RES easily enter traps. If you get red ear tabs you know the fish truck gave you at least a few of the advertised RES that you paid for.

You may want to fish with a 2-3" GSF under a float and see if any other LMB exist in your pond already. If you already have LMB then the equation changes again and the balance shifts.

I'm going to do some investigating, I may have a fish trap and that's a good idea. I pulled up a small BG or HBG yesterday or at least I think that's what it was. I'll put a picture up.