Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Crazy fish!

My apologies as well for beating a dead horse. I haven't been around all that long on here to completely know what has and hasn't been covered. With Eric asking me for a scientific study I figured all to be learned about the HSB hadn't been. In doing an archive search on the forum, I couldn't find the answers I was looking for which is why I am still asking and trying to learn...

CJ thanks for the info. I have read part and will reply when I get a second. George has been through this exercise and knows he can grow them well in his very hot water. The Symp. he cites has a ton of good info. However there is always new info to find and that was what I ask for and you provided. Thanks and the study has lots of info on first glance. I have more info and from ponds to add. I need to look more closely but on first glance it does not support (in fact contradicts) the notion that HSB need cooler water and more DO than ponds provide. More later.

I've found an article (in English) on feed training Peacock Bass. It looks like they're possible to feed train, but it's not clear if it's economically feasible.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0034-71082000000400015&script=sci_arttext

Are there even hatcheries in the US that sell Peacock Bass? Google indicates that people buy them for aquariums at about $20 for a 2" fish, they grow 1" or more per month, and central Texas would have about a 7 month safe growing season for them.

My dad owns a small piece of property near New Braunfels with a .12 acre, about 7' deep pond on it. The thing dried out completely over the terrible summer drought. It's starting to re-fill now that winter rains are hitting. I'm tempted to put a couple pounds of FHM in it when I'm back over winter, then buy a Peacock Bass from an aquarium supplier, put him in, and see if he's still there and grown up at the end of the summer.

If this is legal and my schedule works out, look forward to pictures.

Might not work in that small of a pond but who knows would be cool to try.

It's a tiny pond, but it did successfully grow a 10" LMB my uncle threw in a few years ago to control the unchecked GSF to about 18".

Only reason I say maybe not in the little pond is that it may get colder then a larger pond.

That's a good point. I'll just have to hope for warm weather. If I do this I'll probably try (or have someone else try) to catch the PB around early October, it'll still be plenty warm then. If the PB makes it to 8" between April and October, I'll consider the experiment a smashing success.

I just figured out I am at 29 * N too. May need to take a trip to the in laws in w palm to catch some peacock.

Man, I'd love to put one or two in an aquarium up here.

Evaluation of Two Sizes of Hybrid Striped Bass for Introduction into Small Ponds

J. Wesley Neal , James A. Rice , Richard L. Noble
In conclusion, until the catastrophic fish kill events, hybrid bass survived well in these typical small southeastern ponds with established centrarchid communities. Hybrid bass growth was slower in these unmanaged ponds than in large reservoirs or intensive culture, and the decline in condition after stocking indicated that the centrarchid prey base was not ideal for hybrid bass. This suggests that use of hybrid bass in this manner for creation of private fisheries will be limited to low-density stocking for diversification purposes only. However, better results might be obtained in ponds with a different trophic structure that includes soft-rayed fishes, such as clupeids. Supplemental feeding would increase growth rates and condition as well, and could be a viable option in smaller systems and in commercial fee fishing operations.



The fish kills presented an unexpected opportunity to estimate survival for the period from stocking to the time of the fish kill in each pond. These kills were the result of unusual circumstances that also caused the death of largemouth bass and bluegills, typically successful pond species. Both kills resulted from extreme anoxic conditions during early morning rainstorms; each pond destratified allowing deeper water with high oxygen demand to mix with the low oxygen surface water. These ponds did not have a history of fish kills, so we considered these events to be unusual.

The underlying data from this study included extensive temp and DO data indicating that the LMB , BG and HSB had about the same tolerance for these conditions.

I am looking forward to hearing what your impression of the study is. I have fished both Claytor and Smith Mountain, the reservoirs mentioned in the study. They are great fisheries, especially Smith Mountain.


I have never doubted the fact that one can grow HSB under 8 pounds quite well in a small southern pond. What I am curious about is, at want size do HSB hit that wall where they have to have the cooler higher DO waters to do well? I believe there is a distinct different in the requirements of a 5 pound HSB and a 15 pound HSB.



This is why this forum is so great, people openly sharing their thoughts and opinions. We will never learn everything there is to know about HSB or pond management. The open sharing of ideas among many pondmeisters with years of first hand experience and/or education make this one special place. As Bill Cody says, Pond Boss IS America's Journal on Pond Management...

IMO there are too many variables to say where HSB “hit the wall”.
All, or most of all of our HSB, including some 4-5 lb classes “hit the wall” with last summer fish kill, along with most of our large LMB, CNBG, CC and GC.
Obviously a DO problem.

Water quality is an important criterion for HSB of course, as well as fishing pressure. HSB do not do well in acidic Texas Piney Wood waters, preferring alkaline hard waters.

HSB have become very popular sport fish in Texas public waters but I consistently catch bigger fish from our ponds than reported HSB catches from public waters, 18-inch min length requirement for keepers.

The largest HSB I have ever seen was Mrs. G's 13.5 pounder, approaching Lake Texoma’s record ~14 pounder.
Texas HSB state record is 19lbs from Lake Ray Hubbard.

Academic arguments are of no interest to me.
As far as I am concerned I am out of this debate.
I have successfully met my stated goals and objectives of developing a small Texas pond fishery that provides consistent excellent sport fly-fishing for HSB and CNBG.

I really appreciate all the info that this site offers, I was very interested in HSB but the info here convinced me that the PH & temp. of my water would not go well with HSB.
Even though many of us like to push the envelope when raising different species it's good to know what your odds of success might be.

Now George, how can we even approach having a debate about HSB without THE MASTER.

IMHO there is a huge difference between studying something and doing something. George you decided on a stocking strategy and you put it into place. We've all seen the photos of your fish. They speak volumes themselves. I'd love to hook one of your CNBG or HSB. Beats any fish in my pond hands down and I suspect that is true for 82.7% of the other forum members here.

Personally, if my fish peaked at 8 pounds I'd be ecstatic. I'd dress up in a fish costume and perform a ritualistic dance on the eve of the Summer Equinox.

I think it's going to come down to this WahooBob, what is your tolerance for employing a stocking strategy, monitoring it for 5 years or so and if you find the results are not to your liking then killing off all the fish and starting over. It seems to me as though that is the worst case scenario. Best case scenario is that you break new ground with a pond stocked in a manner that isn't supposed to be possible. Sound like a long shot? Probably. It is possible? You bet, just ask Aaron.

Here is some from the study which IMO indicates ponds will work for HSB. Still looking as it is a long study at 236 pgs.



Hybrid striped bass

Habitat needs and preferences for HSB are not as well defined as for STB, but HSB are

believed to be better able to tolerate warm summertime conditions in warm, eutrophic reservoirs

(Coutant 1985; Moss 1985; Muncy et al. 1990). While no HSI exists for HSB, the combination

of temperature and dissolved oxygen is often reported as the two most limiting factors (DeMauro

1990).

The exact temperature preferences for HSB are unknown, but may be intermediate to the

parental STB (20-24°C) and white bass (28-30°C) (Barans and Tubb 1973; Gammon 1973).

Based on findings from telemetry studies, HSB seem to prefer 21-27°C water with dissolved

oxygen >4.5 mg/L (Douglas and Jahn 1987; Muncy et al. 1990). Like STB, they are intolerant to

low (<2 mg/L) levels of DO. For example, Piner (1993) found HSB in Fairfield Reservoir, TX

to inhabit water up to 32°C in well-oxygenated water (>5mg/L) even though cooler water with

DO of 2-4 mg/L was available.

I agree Eric, HSB are far more suitable to small pond or even small lake management than full blooded striped bass. The biggest reason they were ever conceived to begin with IMO. I appreciate you reading the research and sharing your thoughts.

I will work on it. There is a lot there to learn about. It is interesting to note the movements of and use by the fish within each of the systems in BOTH studies covering 5 different BOW - feeding , DOs , temps etc. have strong similarities.

Yes, it is a very interesting study... I cannot imagine the many hours and back breaking work required to do it! I am glad there are people out there and private money(power companies) willing to put the time and effort into learning.

How about freshwater Dolphin as top predator.
http://baiji.org/in-depth/freshwater-dolphins.html

Oh WOW!!! wonder if a bull shark could live in a pond??