Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose green sunfish

I called to buy some bluegill yesterday and the dealer said he had a few but he had a lot of green sunfish. The price on the green sunfish is really good but it seems I had read they were not a good substitute for bluegill? Is that true and if it is true why

The main disadvantage to GSF is they have a big mouth. Most Big Mouths especially in the sunfish group are usually trouble. Other features they are more aggressive than BG, more secretive in heavier cover than BG and they more easily avoid predation. IMO they have more negatives that all the other sunfishes. However they are very tolerant to lower water quality conditions.

thank you bill. so its similar to stocking a crappie in that it can eat small fry and minnows

Small GSF (3/4"-1.3") often in the thousands from the previous year, who have large mouths, an aggressive nature and large appetites will consume high numbers of fish fry that hang out in the shallows post hatch. They can have a big negative impact of the recruitment of other fish species. Small GSF less than 5" long have the same mouth gape as the same sized LMB. Anyone with doubts, take some measurements and you will prove it to yourself. I have a yellow perch pond contaminated with GSF. They significantly reduce recruitment of both minnows and YP.

James, I have them and don't worry about it. In our part of the world, BG out spawn them about 3 to 1. They are extremely numerous in my 1/4 acre pond with no predators. In my large pond, with predators, it is rare to catch one. The BG out spawn them and the bass, due to being more fusiform, eat more of them than they do BG.

A lot of it depends on your goals. They don't spawn enough to really be a good forage fish for bass. Unlike Bill, I've not found them to be any more aggressive on reducing recruitment of other sunfish.

When I seine my small pond, I get about 50/50 GSF/BG. When I fish it with a tiny spinner, I catch about 80/20 GSF/BG. I find that oz. per oz., the GSF out fight a BG and will hit anything that moves.

Bottom line, to me, is that they are a fun fish to catch but won't meet any forage goals. I do not hesitate to add them to my bigger pond when I seine the small pond.

I will second what Dave has to say on the catch rate. Especially fishing near shore, I will disproportinately catch GSF and hybrids with GSF genes compared to BG. Out in a little deeper water I don't notice it quite as much.

I certainly would never pay anyone for GSF to stock a pond or recomend them for any initial stocking but a few in an established BG population has not seemed to be a big problem for me. I have been putting a few in my main pond for diversity, but I already have plenty of BG.

I would tell your fish dealer no thanks, you will wait for BG.

Green sunfish are, in my opinion, a fun sport fish to have. When properly managed and given good habitat, green sunfish can be a blast. They will flock to boulders and crevices where they hide in the cracks and will destroy crappie lures when you put them in front of their face. They can grow to nice sizes when given enough food, and also make great cut and live bait. They live a lot longer on the hook than bluegill in my experience. They are good for preventing overpopulation of LMB, but you have to keep them in check and cull a good amount of the 3"-5" GS to allow more recruitment of other species.

This was a long post but there really is a niche in my heart for this son of the devil. They are adaptable and tough fish, true survivors.

Interesting. I have a pond in which the primary predators are blue cats; unlike all the surrounding ponds, it has a pretty good GSF population. It hadn't occurred to me that their relative abundance when compared to BG might be due to an enhanced ability to escape this particular predator.

ABC, do only the GSF hide in the rocks or do BG also utilize them? I expect that I wouldn't be able to tell.

David, my 1/4 acre "forage" pond has BG and GSF with very little structure. 2 years ago my Grandson wanted some channel cats. I put 25, about 4 inches long, cats in it. I knew they wouldn't escape bass predation in my big pond. I worry about it because of past O2 related fish kills. Last summer my Grandson and I seined it to head off O2 depletion problems. I found that I didn't have as many forage fish as in the past. I can only attribute that to catfish predation and GSF with only annual spawns.

Due to it being 3/4 mile from the house, it rarely gets fished and I don't have a feeder back there. I believe that, in the absence of bass, GSF will slowly dominate by cross breeding in small ponds.

My experience is GSF are much better and genetically adapted at utilizing rock, interstitial, structure than BG. Did you catch any catfish while seining the forage pond?. Any idea how many of the original 25 that survived?.

The bluegill doesn't hide in the rocks the same way that the green sunfish does. Greenies will hide in rocks and crevices and use them as living space if they can get their basic needs from their hiding spot. bluegill will use rocks for safety, but they will not hide in the rocks the same way as the greenies. A bluegill uses rocks as a buffer between itself and predators rather than a home.

Bill, no cats seined but one did jump over the top of the seine. I try to count them while feeding and generally see 15 or 16 at one time.

Evidently 15 larger catfish in 0.2 ac can control GSF and BG when the main food available is small fish.