Originally Posted by Quarter Acre
I have put in over 50 HSB in my small pond over the last 4 years and don't think I have much of anything to show for it. I did harvest 7 of them a couple summers ago, however. I would have swore that I had many of them left then, but no sign of them now. I've switched to ladder stocking CC and trying my luck with BG instead of HBG. I might even go complete mutt pond if the CC don't work out. All, just to keep my love of the hobby elevated and my efforts and my spending lower. Part of my wants it to get grossly overpopulated and stunted so that I can throw a few flathead cats in and grow a monster
or two, but maintaining a weak fish population has been challenging.

I've got some great news for you QA. CC are excellent pond fish. You will enjoy them. They grow well with BG. They taste great too. We fish a stunted BG pond and the CC have averaged .9 lbs growth per year in the first 5 years. Some are over 5 lbs. No feed, so would do better with supplemental feeding. The BG seem to stall at 4.5 to 5". These are optimum for catching 5 lb and larger CC. Kids like catching them and I'm not ashamed to say we keep a few for snacking. I'll fry up a platter of them and the kids won't hardly let us grab one edge wise, LOL. I thoroughly enjoy watching their glee as they are consumed ... Starting tail fins first.

I think your idea of one or two FH might help you grow bigger BG. Your pond size is optimum for this as only one about 5 lbs would be a great help. You would need to harvest by around 15-20 lbs. and then go in with another around 5 lbs. The cycle would be somewhere between 3 to 5 years .... Probably. If you set a limb line from your dock one evening there would probably be a FH (unless a CC) on it in the morning. Back in the day, i liked to set limb lines in a local creek. I would use just enough line that the BG was about 8 inches below the water. An old timer taught me that trick and it didn't hurt if it didn't help. In my twenties I spent as much time with 70+ folks as I did with folks my age. I am glad I did that.

FH are territorial and like cover ... If you set a brush pile ... It'll probably hang there most of the time and the CC will wisely keep their distance.

Last edited by jpsdad; 06/16/21 07:58 AM.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers