Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations gsf ? picture included

Yikes...message received. Thanks for dragging me into this mess, JHAP.

DIED's gsf photoshopped? yer a funny guy there pond frog. i'm so hurt that none of the mods or forum geezers stuck up for good old DIED and his green pigs


put these in yer bikini.....















in addition to these two lovely fish







sorry for the interuption, back to my corner now....

Dave I am impressed! I just got my pond in May and I have caught several 8 to 10 inch GFS in my pond. I don't know why everyone hates the GSF? They hit top water baits, crank baits they are a blast to catch when they are that size! The kids love catching them. Those are some mighty fine looking ones at that! Sorry guys I couldn't stand it anymore! I do have GSF and I like catching them! Not sure why everyone hates on them so much. I guess it's like having a mut for a dog no one likes him but you!

I don't think anyone really hates GSF ---( ok maybe 30 or 40 people here do. ) but mostly we love to aggravate JHAP.

Oh well if thats the case... Carry on then!!

With bass and BG around GSF are rarely a problem. They just become a very small % of the pond population. I don't hate them, I have many fond memories of them as a kid. When I didn't know any better, they were often one of the first fish to be put in a new pond I found.

JHAP has backup!

Did someone say that GSF are not good to eat?

I seem to recall someone saying the fillets were "mushy."

RC51 you are promoted to full fledged membership in the GSA. Thank you for your service to this magnificent fish.



AH HA! Just as I suspected. Most of you love GSF - I knew it had to be true. You were just following the pack mentality and not asserting yourself. It is ok my friends to praise this beautiful fish, stand up like a man and be counted. Do not let the haters out shout your opinion. Admit your love for this magnificent species.



You are quite right Sunil, they taste mushy and not very good. I highly recommend that you eat only Pond Pidgeon (aka Blue Gill). All GSF should be returned to the pond after catching them. All bluegill should be filleted, cooked and consumed.

Here is one of my GSF I caught back in June. It was about 9.5 inches long. They are a fun fight with the right fishing equipment!!

That sir brings a tear to my eye.

LOL I love it!!

I can Honestly Say, That I have Never Caught, Seen, Smelled, Handled, or even come remotely close within the vicinity of a GSF!

That said, I may have been a bit harsh on the GSA!

I never thought I would like Squid or Spinach either. But you can shovel it to me any time!

Just wondering how GSF and Roses get along?

sunil, they taste so good, you could call them the lobster nuggets of all pondom.

rc51, you brought a lil tear to my eye as well, THAT is a TROPHY for the species. you are the first pondbosser to post a picture of a fish that rivals those of jhap and i. between the three of us, we have the largest documented gsf in the country, maybe in the world....unless there are other pondbossers here who beg to differ, we want to see pictures not words.

rc, if you routinely have 8 to 9 inch fish this is quite rare and you should recognize these as trophies for the species. BTW, a 10-inch gsf is EXTREMELY RARE and should be considered a SUPER TROPHY. you obviously have unique conditions in yer pond. i would not hesitate to try and manage or maintain for those trophy fish in yer pond, very cool.

Hey Dave,

Thanks for the kind words. When I bought my pond this last May I started fishing it and all that was in there was GSF and LMB and that's it! My Next door Neigh's told me that, the pond has been sitting for quite some time unmanaged. I know for a fact I caught 15 or so one day and they were almost all within 7 to 9 inches. I will post a few more bigger one's this spring again. That is my pond and I am sticking with it. GSF and LMB. I think I can make the 2 work once I get things better under control with a tagging system.

Oh no, don't tell me that there's a SouthEast Chapter of GSA starting up!!

I caught a GSF in Lake Castaic here in California, hit my bait rather hard as i was reeling in the bobber. He was probably only 4 or 5 inches long. I was impressed by it however.

We are international.

I keep telling folks that pound per pound a GSF is a terrific fighter, one of the best in the sunfish family IMHO. It is amazing the size of lure they will strike.

At DIED's place it is fun to feed fish. He has BG and GSF (as well as other species). The BG attack a pellet in sort of a sideways motion. The GSF rocket up from below hit the pellet, immediately turn and head back to the depths. The difference in prey attack is very distinct between these to species (at least that has been our observations. DIED has observed this quite a bit and pointed it out to me, it's obvious once you watch it occur.

Catching a 9-10 inch GSF on ultra light tackle is a blast!

Good for you. It is my belief that GSF can be managed just like any other sunfish.

If I had it to do all over again I wouldn't have introduced BG into my pond. I started out with just LMB and GSF and later introduced BG and RES. I wanted the RES because we had a snail and parasite problem - they seem to have worked wonders on that situation. I added the BG to feed the LMB. I now regret adding the BG because they may eventually overpopulate the GSF. I intend to fish for pond pigeons (aka BG) with extreme prejudice.

JKB, GSF absolutely love roses!. GSF love most plants. But those little green meanies really mellow out around roses. They just love to curl up in a hole and have the roots from the rose bush hug them tight.....they gladly give their lives to be plant food!

Remember, There is nothing any prettier than the scales of 1000 dead green sunfish, glistening with dew (even DMD) on the soil of a freshly planted garden..............Mmm Mmm Mmm

And you wonder why you are constantly having truck problems.

I would implement a chipper shredder, ya know, to help with soil aeration and all. Small pieces mix better.

The thing I like about a GSF and LMB pond is you don't need pellets and minnows, you can get by with just minnows and or spawning for food. I don't need no automatic feeders and such trying to take care of. Now if I started over from scratch I might do what Bob Lusk talked about in his video and try to do a all pellet food. That way once again I am just feeding one type of food to my fish. I added 200 CNB and 50 RES for more spawning action and to have some RES for parasites. Unless you want to spend a lot of money of feeder fish I suppose you need to have some CNB for spawning.

Touché my friend, touché


Where the hell is Yolk Sac ?!?!