Count me in the minority - I like the GSF. I now have a pond full of mutant GSF/RES crosses....jury is still out on the growth potential but they sure are fun to catch.
Much easier to catch than pure RES too.
I am curious as to what works best as fishing methods to catch this cross. Some literature describes them still retaining a tendency eat snails and also utilizing the pelagic areas. dlowrance, I would very much like to see a color photo of your hybrids so I might understand what they look like in color.
Illinois did some research on RES male X GSF female as parental stocking and the results were remarkable blowing away all prior attempts to maximize harvest yields. I seem to have lost the link (though have the paper) ... I found the link here at pondboss and it may have been ewest that posted it.
Just located it ... numerous websites sell it but it is public domain ... some authors expressly forbid their papers to be resold.
https://tinyurl.com/yalrwns6 I fish 90% of the time for BG (or hybrids or GSF), maybe 5% for RES and the rest for bass. Probably half to two thirds of the time I fish for pan fish this is the bait I use.
Berkley Gulp Alive Waxie John F turned me on to these. Occasionally I will use white or the Gulp maggots or worms just to switch it up, but most of the time these waxies pull in one BG right after another. 1/32 or 1/64 oz jig for a hook (they do not swallow the jigs as bad as regular hooks). I catch RES on these too.
As far as hybrids biting this is my experience. GSF and hybrids with GSF genes are more aggressive than BG towards biting something on a hook. If the bite is difficult I will catch a disproportionate number of GSF and HBG. As soon as I start fishing a spot it is not uncommon that three fourth of the first several fish caught will be HBG or GSF. Then I go to catching almost all BG.
If a person fished my pond and stopped at 6 fish he might swear all I had in the pond were HBG and GSF. But in reality they probably comprise less than 5%. They are just that much more aggressive to bite.
I like HBG. If it is a bad fishing day (rare but I do have them) the HBG and a few GSF will nearly always oblige.
