Catmandoo...I really appreciate the post. It seems like your goals are very similar to mine. I absolutely love those shell crackers...a one pound specimen is big in my experience...I don't know what I'd do with a two pound fish!I guess you would say put it back and keep its one pound offspring!
Is there a way to purchase the Condello BG? I'm about sick and tired of the hatcheries at this point.
The RES had fin rot on two fins, so I took it out.
As for the Condello or Bordello (Baird/Condello mix), there are none available for sale that I am aware of. I'm getting close to retirement, and one of these days when I've got several extra days, I'm may just hop in my truck, go to Indiana and rustle a few to bring back to WV/VA for breeding.
We've had pretty good luck with bluegill from the fish suppliers. And even though I have a lot of nice bluegill in my pond, every couple of years I take my small tank and bring home a few big males from a state run lake near me that is managed for big bluegills (bass are catch and release only). I do that just to help reduce the effects of inbreeding.
As for redears, they are a little more difficult because few suppliers raise them big enough to put into a pond with mature bass. At a friend's place a few miles away in VA, we put 100 2-3 inchers in a brood pond last fall. They are now in the 4-5 inch category, and we'll seine them out in the next month or two, to put into the main pond.
