The last pic does look like a BG X RES.

HBG should be aggressive and easy to catch (subject to temps) while other crosses are not a easily catchability.

Anyone have thoughts on the catchability of BG X GSF vs other lepomis crosses ?

My experience is that BG X RES are a bit larger but they are not as catchable as HBG (BG X GSF). Still a good catchable fish but not as aggressive as HBG.


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Some info from a prior post.

North American Journal of Fisheries Managemen6t: 156-167, 1986

¸ Copyright by the American Fisheries Society1 986

Evaluation of Male Bluegill X Female Green Sunfish Hybrids for

Stocking Mississippi Farm Ponds

MARTIN W. BRUNSON and H. RANDALL ROBINETTE






The use of hybrid sunfishes in ponds has been

suggested as an attractive alternative to the more

traditional stocking policies involving the bluegill

(Lepomism acrochirus) or redears unfish( Lepomis

microlophus), or both, in combination with the

largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) (Lewis

and Heidinger 1978a).



Ellison and Heidinger

(1978) surveyed 30 privately owned hybrid

sunfish ponds in southern Illinois and determined

that the presence of largemouth bass and supplemental

feeding were the two most important variables

related to growth of hybrids.



Growth of redear

sunfish x green sunfish and bluegill x green

sunfish (BG x GS) hybrids exceeded the average

growth for bluegill in Illinois (Lopinot 1972). The

BG x GS hybrids reached an acceptable catch size

in a shorter time than channel catfish (Ictalurus

punctatus), and they were easier to catch where

both were stocked for recreational fishing.



Several hybrid combinations have been recognized

as having potential in pond management

(Lewis and Heidinger 1978b), but the BG x GS

hybrid appears to have the most attractive combination

of desirable attributes. Like other hybrids,

the BG x GS hybrid exhibits rapid growth

(Childers 1967; Ellison and Heidinger 1978) and

probable hybrid vigor (Brunson and Robinette

1985), produces mostly males (Childers and Bennett

1961; Laarman 1973; Brunson 1983), and is

highly vulnerable to capture by hook and line

(Henderson and Whiteside 1976; Crandall and

Durocher 1980; Brunson 1983). Only the BG x

GS hybrid, however, is well suited to artificial

feeding (Lewis and Heidinger 1978a) and frequents

shallow water areas, where it may be more

accessible to the pond angler than some other hybrids.

The BG x GS hybrid is probably the most

common commercially produced hybrid sunfish

in the southeastern United States.



From an angler's viewpoint, increased growth is

highly desirable.H owever, perhapsm ore important

to the angler is the presumed high catchability of

hybrid sunfish. This vulnerability to hook-andline

capture has been alluded to by many authors

but relatively few experimental data exist to substantiate

such statements. Childers (1967) cited

one instance where a population of more than

10,000 BG x GS hybrids was decimated by anglers

during the first week of fishing. Childers and

Bennett (1967) reported hook-and-line yields in a

0.4-hectare pond stocked with redear x green sunfish

hybrids and largemouth bass that surpassed

those of comparably fished bluegill ponds. They

concluded that hybrids were more aggressive, less

wary, and less able to learn how to avoid being

caught than their parent species. Henderson and

Whiteside (1976) confirmed the vulnerability of

hybrids to angling, and Ellison and Heidinger

(1978) reported that hybrid sunfish were much

easier to catch than channel catfish when both were

stocked for recreational fishing. They also confirmed

the aggressivenesos f hybrid sunfisha s reported

by swimmers who were nipped by these

fish. Crandall and Durocher (1980) reported that

catchability of the BG x GS hybrid was significantly

higher than that ofbluegill x redear sunfish

or green x redear sunfish hybrids.

Other than theses tudies,t he literature on hybrid

sunfishes is the result of laboratory or controlled,

short-term pond studies with relatively narrow objectives.

The total catch of

146 hybrids during the 2-h period was 21% of the

population.



These high catch rates,

especially at Britt Pond, once again confirm the

aggressivenessa nd vulnerability of the BG x GS

hybrid, and point to the importance of strict control

of harvest in hybrid ponds. Especially significant

is the effect that poachers can have on a

hybrid population.



Though hybrid sunfish are not a panacea

for all farm pond management problems, they can

be used under certain conditions to produce desirable

populations of rapidly growing fish. With

a rapid growth rate, low population fecundity, and

high catchability, these fish can be used to create

high quality bream fishing when properly managed

Last edited by ewest; 10/28/18 09:58 AM.