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Funny thing is, I'm really not much of an angler. Oh I fish quite a bit any more, mostly for BG, but only in my own ponds. I don't even own a fishing license and have never had a Kansas fishing license.

I mostly just like raising them and messing with the pond. But we do also eat quite a lot of fish that we catch.

The SMB are the jumpers. I really like them too.


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Originally Posted by snrub
Funny thing is, I'm really not much of an angler. Oh I fish quite a bit any more, mostly for BG, but only in my own ponds. I don't even own a fishing license and have never had a Kansas fishing license.

I mostly just like raising them and messing with the pond. But we do also eat quite a lot of fish that we catch.

The SMB are the jumpers. I really like them too.

Have you tried eating any HSB? I never have, but am wondering what they taste like. Reluctant to take out HSB from my place because I have relatively few and they fight like crazy.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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Fillet leaving a thin layer of meat (the red meat) connected to the skin. HSB are not bad at all, and I can say the red meat gets more pronounced with size of fish. 1-3lb'ers are not bad.. bigger and it becomes more of an issue.

Of course you could repurpose the meat left on skin and likely use as feed back into the system.

Last edited by Snipe; 06/15/20 11:25 PM.
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Originally Posted by Snipe
Fillet leaving a thin layer of meat (the red meat) connected to the skin. HSB are not bad at all, and I can say the red meat gets more pronounced with size of fish. 1-3lb'ers are not bad.. bigger and it becomes more of an issue.

Of course you could repurpose the meat left on skin and likely use as feed back into the system.

Thanks for the tip! I don't mind occasionally taking a smaller one out, though to be honest BG and even LMB are more my style. Rainbow trout and crappie top many lists, but I was raised on fried BG, love the slightly sweet taste.


7ac 2015 CNBG RES FHM 2016 TP FLMB 2017 NLMB GSH L 2018 TP & 70 HSB PK 2019 TP RBT 2020 TFS TP 25 HSB 250 F1,L,RBT -206 2021 TFS TP GSH L,-312 2022 GSH TP CR TFS RBT -234, 2023 BG TP TFS NLMB, -160




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snrub Offline OP
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Somebody must eat a lot of HSB. If you read that article on KEO and the number of fry they sell per year, many of those fry are sold to commercial fish farms raising them for food. Or at least that is the way I interpreted the article.

I had always heard they were supposed to be good eating. Thanks for the tip Snipe. Unless something bad happens to my new fingerlings, eating a bunch of them is likely in my future. Probably a bunch of 1-2 pounders because I will have a way lot more numbers than I need to stock the rest of my ponds.

I anticipate I will have to keep harvesting or will experience bass overload.

For those that missed it, pictures on the bottom of the previous page.

Last edited by snrub; 06/16/20 05:02 AM.

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I sure did miss that Snrub. Those are pretty cool pictures. I hope these work out amazing for ya. When your ready to relocate them to your main pond I'm here to help ya. I helped my old man seine a small pond he used for growing catfish. We had a truck bed full of those suckers. Only had to go about 500 feet with them. That was a redneck good time lol.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
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I might take you up on that and you are one of the ones I figure would be the final home for some of these. Unless I have a high mortality rate some time this fall when they get 4-6" in length I am going to need to start removing some from this pond. I'll stock my other ponds with quite a few but will need to get the numbers down low enough in this tiny pond I think the remaining can over winter and let them get a little bigger into next year before their relocation. I know Heath on this forum would like some for his pond also and another local would like some. They are both not too far from me.

Plus I will get tired of buying the feed for that many fish after a while. eek

Last edited by snrub; 06/16/20 08:35 AM.

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Even if you don't don't have extra i'm more than willing to help out. I'm always down for a good time in the water.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
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Thanks John for the great pictures. Can`t wait to see the growth of these speed demons.


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snrub #523202 07/03/20 04:49 PM
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The HSB stocked on 6-15-2020 and the one I caught today 18 days later in a cast net was 3.5". Started out average length 1.5"

Also caught a RES in the cast net to see how they are doing. . About 4.25" on this one stocked 4-20-2020 at about 2" long.

Things are progressing.

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[Linked Image from forums.pondboss.com]

Last edited by snrub; 07/03/20 04:59 PM.

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That`s really good growth John. It`s amazes me to see the detail difference in a HSB 1.5" to a 3.5" fish.


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Yes they are really growing on all the tiny FHM's in that pond. I was told bu Mike at Keo that they would not eat much feed as long as they had minnows to eat but would readily switch over to feed once the minnow population dwindled. I had yet to see one feeding on any of the feed I threw in so got curious and captured one with the cast net. Only sampled the one because the size they are right now the cast net is a perfect size to gill net them. Will go another couple weeks when they get bigger and less likely to kill them with the net and sample again. I was happy with the RES growth too.

I'm feeding daily and the FHM's are gobbling it up. So feeding the FHM to feed the HSB and RES.

I don't have the correct size feed. Optimal was out of #4 starter that I wanted but got 10# of #2 which is really small. But the FHM will eat it if the HSB don't. Also been feeding Optimal Jr and Aquamax MVP (mixing it together and hand feeding). The FHM peck at it till it softens and gets consumed or it soaks up and sinks and they eat it off the bottom. I think the FHM will keep reproducing babies till the HSB get big enough to eat the adults. My thinking is by then they will be big enough to eat the Optimal Jr so I should be able to keep them fed either with FHM or fish food.

So far so good.

Last edited by snrub; 07/03/20 05:09 PM.

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snrub, my HSB started showing up to Optimal jr at about 5-5.5".. No lack of forage just one day there they were.
Mine were about 2" when stocked the first part of June so I'd say your growth is better and I'll bet you pass me up soon!

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The #2 starter feed I have is sinking so I can't even see what is eating it. But I am sure the FHM will clean it up and the HSB will get it from that source. I wish I had the #4 which is about the size of BB's and floats. I have had it before to feed the small BG around the edge of the main pond.

I only caught the one fish so it could have been the largest or the smallest. I will check in another week or two when they get a little bigger and the cast net will not kill them. By the time they are 5" I should be able to catch them by hook and line. I have actually caught FHM's on a small hook before so should be able to catch the HSB with the right rig. I think I got some tiny jig hooks for tying flys.

I was concerned stocking so many fish in my tiny 1/20th acre forage pond but from what I read they raise these things under commercial conditions at tremendous pounds of fish per acre. I do have aeration in this pond so that is a plus. I can up the air flow easily as they get bigger and more concentrated. Then as soon as they get big enough to escape predation I can start taking some out and putting in other ponds to give more room for the remaining ones.

We have been trying to fish and remove some CC and HBG from the main pond to give room for some more biomass anticipating putting some of these HSB in there.

Kind of exciting but spooky too, wondering just where I will screw up and kill some fish. eek


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Sounds like your plan is coming together very nice. It would be cool to see when they all start going crazy for the pellets.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
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From what I have been able to see from the surface the HSB just started hitting the pellets yesterday. When the FHM hit the pellets they just kind of mostly move the pellet around. But yesterday I could see the something bigger hitting it hard and it has to be the HSB.

Did single cast net throw to sample them and came up with three HSB and one RES.

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Last edited by snrub; 07/11/20 01:36 PM.

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snrub --"some time this fall when they get 4-6" in length I am going to need to start removing some from this pond."

Looks like Fall size got here early. Well conditioned HSB !
















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Wow. The growth over the few weeks has been really amazing. I agree that you may be looking at stocking earlier than expected. On the feed note I have used the magic bullet food grinder on many occasions to get food to the right size, when the right sized food is hard to source.


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Took out 34 of the HSB today at an average length of about 4.5". Caught them with a cast net.

Put a dozen in my main pond, a dozen in the old pond and ten in the RES/SMB pond.

They are not big enough to escape all predation except maybe in the RES/SMB pond, but I have this paranoia that I will screw up somehow in the forage pond, have a fish kill, and lose all of them. So I figure at least get a few out in other ponds and maybe some of them will survive, just in case I have a catastrophe in this forage pond. Hedging my bets a little so I don't end up with a big goose egg for the project.

Will likely do it again in a few weeks as they grow some more.

They scurried off in their new environments.

More of them are starting to hit pellets on the surface now.

Last edited by snrub; 07/15/20 09:42 AM.

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Well done !

Any guess at weights ?

Hybrid Striped Bass (HSB) Standard Weight
6"=0.1 lb, 8"= 0.24 lb, 10" 0.49 lb, 12"= 0.87 lb, 14"= 1.41 lb, 16"= 2.15 lb
















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Didn't even think to weigh them Eric!

Have to get out the wife's kitchen scales for that.


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Caught another dozen HSB with the cast net and transferred them to the main pond. Most were 5" with one smaller one still at 4.5". 33 days from stocking. Starting to hit pellets a lot better and the FHM fry along the banks are getting fewer. Caught a couple 3-4" RES in the throws also and transferred them too.

Last edited by snrub; 07/18/20 06:35 PM.

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That's awesome growth John. I can't help but think the difference is the FHM providing round the clock forage. Well Done!

Last edited by jpsdad; 07/18/20 10:56 PM.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Thanks. I can't help but believe they will hit a stall once the FHM's are all eaten. I'm just hand feeding and only once a day.

Right now the HSB are not big enough to eat the adult FHM's. Once they get to that size I think it will be all over with for the FHM's as there is very little cover in this pond. Wonder what size the HSB would need to be to eat an adult FHM?

Transferred another dozen to the main pond. Did not measure any but it sure looked like one of them might have been 6" as it was a little bigger than the others. That makes 58 total removed from this pond so far.


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Interesting observation of the HSB fry the last couple days. They are starting to hunt in packs I presume. About 7pm tonight as we walked out to feed them saw up to three different schools at one time thrashing the water surface in about a 3' diameter boil. I presume they were attacking a school of FHM fry. I had noticed this once in a while before but tonight it was very pronounced and happening in multiple places in the tiny pond at the same time. Would last for maybe ten seconds then start up nearby again later.

Threw out some feed and they started hitting the pellets more one at a time.

Be up to the daughter to feed them next week. Will be interesting to see how much they have grown then. Got a feeling my feed bill is going to start going up rapidly after they get the FHM's cleaned out. I can still see schools of the FHM fry around shallow water hugging the bank. So far the FHM adults are still cranking out babies.


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