St. Johns brood stock

Comment

Comment by Walt Foreman on December 6, 2015 at 11:42am

Coppernose do great here, Slip - I have been stocking them in ponds throughout the state since 2009, and multiple other pond management companies have been stocking them in Tennessee ponds for twenty years or more.  We get a few days of cold here and there but don't get the extended periods of cold like you guys do up north.  Ice cover for more than a few days is rare.

Comment by Slip Sinker on December 6, 2015 at 12:39am

Awesome account.... Will the copper nose survive ice on top of the water

Comment by Walt Foreman on December 5, 2015 at 10:34pm

It was a long trip, for sure, Carl.  The St. Johns is known for its large coppernose, and in my opinion, they're more vividly colored than the bluegill from any other water body in Florida, so I wanted my brood stock to be from there.  I had a guide, Billy Parminter, whom I highly recommend, and we caught sixty or seventy in a day's fishing.  All of them made it back to Tennessee in great shape, but we had a cold snap just a few days after I put them in the pond so I don't know how they're doing now.  One of the females appears to be a sociable bluegill as I have seen her several times since then - most of the time when I drive up to the pond, she comes drifting up to about a foot under the surface within a couple minutes after I pull up.  I've been throwing out some pellet food somewhat regularly even though of course they're not pellet-trained, so maybe she's just wised up to the free meal.

Comment by carl hendrix on December 5, 2015 at 10:18pm

going to florida; from Tn. ;; thats a long trip Walt !  how many did you get for your pond?