Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Green Sunfish Eradication....

I Live in No. Vrginia. My father in law's pond (1.5 acres) was chock a block with greenies... I never caught any other kind of fish. I bought ten 10" tiger muskies from Minnesota Muskie Farm(a cross between Pike+Muskellonge that is sterile) and put them in the pond. I don't fish it much but I hooked a 10lb plus Tiger a few years later. Another few years later i fished again regularly I was uanble to catch anything. I think they ate every Greenie they could find! now there are more greenies coming back. Thesis: pond was originally imballanced in stocking ... Greenies took over... Tigers knocked them out, died off (they only live 6 years or So) I didn't stock bass or trout + Tigers didn't reproduce so greenies are rebounding. Kill greenies catch Tigers!

We've all been there. This lends to the importance of keeping an eye on your lake. These little guys are voracious and devistate your forage with their big mouths. How many times have you almost fell in the lake trying to chuck a GSF on the bank from a boat only to see the darn thing flop back into the drink!!! In the Ozarks we call them blue perch or shade perch.

bill with saying that why not stock say 20% green when putting in b/g. by the way im also from ohio and i had heard the same thing from a guy 48 yrs in the hatchery buisness.

Hosty - I would never add green sunfish to a pond due to their posibility to go overabundant. They have more negatives than positives in a bass bgill pond.

I can't help but laugh at all you guys trying to help get rid of the green sunfish. In my neck of the woods we call them slick jacks, and they are highly prized as flathead catfish bait. I just built a pond for the sole purpose of raising them.

One man's treasure is another man's trash.

evinRude,
If you care to read further on this site you will discover it's all about goals. What do you want out of your pond.
Some want a trophy lmb pond others want trophy bg., some want trout, some smallmouth, some even want gar, & now we have someone who wants green sunfish. That's ok too.
However as the experienced & educated professionals on this site would be more than willing to freely lend you their expertise, intelligence suggests it would not be prudent to throw such advise away, though over the years I have observed there are those who can only learn from their own experience. I'm sure that isn't you. :rolleyes:

I was told by a pond pro today that my hybrid bluegills would spawn into greenies and they would overtake the pond. He also said that bass would not eat the green sunfish as a first choice. Any comments ?

Bryan, I have often heard that Hybrids can and will spawn and will revert to Green Sunfish. I once had a small pond full of them and they certainly spawned along with the bluegill. I see no reason to have them. Over a long time, 10 years or so, there was no growth difference. Both got huge.

I can see no reason why a bass or catfish or anything else would pass up a green sunfish in favor of anything else. If they will hit a metal spinner bait or a wood or plastic crank bait, you know they are opportunity feeders. Sounds like a lot of BS to me.

Wow! This is a long thread, over a year... (Almost a Year)

Thanks everyone for their ideas. The goal of this body of water is to become a great bass pond again. I'm responsible for introducing the green sunfish originally. I don't hate them or anything, but their mouths are too big and they compete with the bass I'm trying to raise.

Evinrude will probably come out and trap all of these things he can haul.

I have another tank with channel cats in it. Would it be wise to move some to the bass tank?

Thanks,

Jason

If you want a great bass pond it would be better not to put the channel catfish in. When the catfish get over a couple of pounds they become preditors. They will compete with your bass to much bait wise. The baitfish will be hunted during the day by bass and by channels at night.

Anyway how has your eradication of the greenies gone. I been hitting my pond with greenies hard with Gulp! nightcrawlers(red) and tiny beetle spins.

I haven't really been after the greenies like I should. I've been chasing the Whites and Blacks @ Leon for the past few weeks. Added about 8 pounds of blacks to the pond last weekend. That was only two fish!!

Once it gets a little warmer, I'll be catching more of the greens... I hope Evinrude can come and make a huge dent in their population. I hate to waste the fish, if someone can get some use from them I'm all for it.

I'll keep the channels separate, besides they're almost pets. They hear my truck and start circling when go to feed them.

Jason

On a ranch I used to own I found very similar conditions that you have described. The solution recommended to me was to stock breeding sized copper nosed bluegills fairly heavily. Since they compete with the Green sunfish for territory and spawn four times a year they croud out the green sunfish. Also spend some time fishing with small spinners for the greenies. They are very aggressive and are easy to catch. You can thin them out this way. Last, be sure you have plenty of bass to eat the greenies, stock mature fish if you have to. I did. After two years, the green sunfish were severly reduced, the coppernosed had established themselves and prospered, (be sure to fertilize the lake and feed protien) and the bass population both in size and numbers flourshed. There is usually a positive solution to most problems. Remember too, this is fun stuff so make your remidies fun. Hope this helps. B

I’m echoing some of what’s been said here. I have experience managing out greensuns out of two different 1-acre ponds. I added 30 adult bluegills and 10 12” bass per acre.(Gills and bass were already established)
I started a feeding program for the gills after the greens spawned.
I think greens only spawn once while gills will spawn as long as they are fat and happy.
That’s not a scientific observation and may be disputed by the smarter folks on this board.
Over 3 years the gills seem to have crowded out the greens. I also pitched all the greens out I’d catch.
On a rare occasion I catch a natural highbred but no true greens.