Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat New build

Oh wow, I figured they were tied to a lunar cycle or something. Hopefully i'll be dropping in some YP in about 2 months. Hopefully i'll have enough of a population by then to survive.

Netted some of my "RES" last night. Looks alot like a normal bluegill. Couple that with the fact they're taking feed and i'm assuming they are just normal BG. Regardless, they seem to be putting on size well.

Yeah, probably are bg, when you said they were feeding , I had a bad feeling. My experience, RES under 3" and you'll get a lot of BG and GSF . Sorry, I'm fighting an uphill battle into hurricane winds trying to remove BG and GSF . Should be #1 rule to buying sunfish species, 3" at least or don't buy. Experts can thump me if I'm way wrong. Absolutes have exceptions, nearly always, may be species that defy the 3" rule, in Sunfish or situations that do. Mine is a SMB and YP pond also. wanted RES for the multitudes of snails. Contamination of different species mixed in with other species , and not just SF , seems to be an issue at a lot of fish sellers .

Im crossing my fingers I didn't get any GSF in there. Hopefully they just scooped out from the BG tank instead of the RES like they were supposed to.

Came back from vacation yesterday to a frenzy of baby FHM and new BG. I had 4-5 small spawning beds formed right before I left. Going to have to step up my feeding to keep up. Going to try and do some more netting and make sure I can't find any GSF. Now if only it'd rain. . .

Any idea what this little guy is? I netted another 7 or so fish last night when feeding and the rest are pretty clearly BG or RES.

uh oh...green sunfish or hybrid.

That was my fear. . . nuke the pond? Or just remove all the ones i see from now on?

If you are buying BG and plan on having LMB in there, then purchasing under 3" BG is OK. I can sort BG from GSF/HBG as small as 1" but I have to handle and look at EVERY fish to do that. If you are stocking RES for a SMB/RES pond, then I completely agree with you that 3" fish (maybe 4" fish) are the minimum size RES to purchase. With that said, trying to find RES that size now is VERY hard to do. My fish suppliers have RES, but they weigh 4# per 1,000 fish so you are talking about RES that are 1" or a hair bigger.

Bob, what are the fishery goals for the pond again, and how big is the pond?

The pond will be right under 1/2 acre when completed with a max depth of 15-16'. My original goal was to try a SM/YP/RES pond. . but then I found some of the RES I bought ended up being BG instead. I'm still planning on trying to go that route. Worst case scenario I can dump in some LMB and change over to a LMB/BG pond. Or at least that was my plan until I found these GSF.

Overall I'm not concerned about growing any trophy fish. I plan on feeding pellets and trying to raise a decent amount of plump YP/RES/BG for a couple fish frys a year with some larger predator fish mixed in as well. Mainly wanting a fun little fishing pond for the kiddos with ability to pull some meat out. I'd prefer to not catch a million 3-4" GSF when trying to catch some larger 6"+ panfish though.

I personally wouldn't nuke a pond just because GSF got introduced. IMO SM/LMB prefer GSF over BG/RES due to their shape and softer body. Plus, GSF don't reproduce like BG. In 1/2 acre you can probably get them under control with a little patience and fishing pressure. Just toss everything that has neon blue/green gills out on the bank when you catch them. Use barbless hooks so you can easily release the BG/RES when they bite. This will also give you a good idea on the relative weights of your fish...get a small digital scale (I got my 5x7 inch scale online at Temu for under $10 with free shipping) Good luck culling them out!

Also GSF can get much larger than 3-4".

Good deal, i'll just keep an eye on them and keep a trap in the pond to weed some out.

Bob, I'd only throw in LMB as a VERY LAST resort. I'd stock some HSB first. GSF can reproduce @ 2" body length, and they will eat a LOT of the smaller YOY fish. If you only have a small amount of fish in there, I'd consider nuking the pond. Easier to do now then after 1-3 years when you will lose that fish growth if you decide to start all over.

I'd demand a refund from your hatchery at a minimum, or threaten to litigate to drain, seine, nuke, and start over with new stocking. A hatchery selling contaminated stock should be brought to justice and should NOT be in business. If you want an invoice from a pond and fishery management professional I might know someone who would help. This is complete BS - don't bend over.

Per Scott I would not abandon your dreams of a cool water species fishery - they're my speciality and are a true joy to manage. I manage SMB/WE/HSB/YP fisheries with BG present and their [BG] population management is a chore. I think a restart is a good idea, but only if the hatchery is going to be held responsible. If you want help thinking through this reach out anytime. Whatever you do don't stock LMB and give up! We can still make it.

tj@hudlandmgmt.com

I'd consider trying to get some Saugeye in the mix! From Snipe's recent research, they seem to be quite effective for BG.

I am doubtful that litigation would be successful in this case, here locally the damn GSF seem to show up in pretty much every water hole that may or may not have even been stocked, kind of like mud cats, No idea how they get in there but they do.

My pond is loaded with the darn things, GSF, and I never stocked any, I can see a few slipping through but definitely not many, but they are everywhere now in just a few yrs.