Guys:

As you will read in the November-December issue of Pond Boss magazine, the hybrid striper ("wiper") is a good fish for ponds for a variety of reasons. Chief among them are:

* They are readily available from fish farmers and brokers, thus competitively priced.

* Hybrid stripers can be stocked at a fairly high density, even in a pond no larger than 1 surface acre, because you can supplement their natural forage supply with high protein pellets.

* Hybrids are sterile, so you have the ultimate control over their numbers. No real risk of them spawning themselves out of balance with other populations.

* Hybrids commonly grow to weights of 8-to-10 pounds and when hooked, hybrids fight like the cross between a smallmouth and a flathead catfish.

One or two considerations . . . I have stocked them in a lake with an established population of LMB, and received strong performances by all species.

I would not, however, place 15-inch hybrids in a small puddle with 8-inch LMB. In that scenario, your bass would become expensive lunch.

Mark McDonald
Editor, Pond Boss