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Comment by Zach Pierce on June 17, 2011 at 12:30pm

Well i put in 20 bass with the other fish, but many of them may have been eaten, but I have been catching some HBG so I know that some of them were able to avoid the GSF as well when stocked.

 

I just added the extra 10-15 last year since they were larger, I can get more I just did not want to over do it.  Although a ton of bas in the .75-1.5 pound range are much easier to eat then stunted GSF.

 

So I guess I need to decide which ones I want in there, I was just afraid of adding too many LMB and ending up with a pond full of stunted bass.

 

Is there anything else I could stock that would help eat the GSF?

 

How many more LMB should I stock and what sizes?

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 17, 2011 at 11:49am

What size is the pond?  10-15 bass are not nearly enough to get an overpopulation of GSF under control.  As far as them spawning, as long as the GSF are overpopulated the bass will have little to no success spawning because the GSF will devour their offspring as soon as they're hatched.

 

I've moved fish lots of times in the middle of Summer.  I've bought fish from a hatchery four hours away, in the middle of July, and every fish was alive and very vigorous when they arrived, and they did well after stocking.  Especially just moving fish short distances, such as if you have access to yearling-size bass from another pond or lake, you should have no problems as long as you use some sort of aeration system, which could be as simple as a 30- or 40-gallon large cooler with a $40 aeration system you can purchase at Wal-mart or Bass Pro hooked up in it.

 

You'll be waiting a long time if you depend on just 10 bass to thin out those GSF...

 

That catfish should be 3 lbs. or better by now if you've been feeding regularly.  Sounds like the GSF are getting all of the food - sounds like they have put a strangehold on your pond. 

Comment by Zach Pierce on June 17, 2011 at 11:21am

 

Well I know some of my bass made it as I had caught a few and they seemed healthy for there size, but not sure if they are doing there job.

 

This year should have been the first year they would have spawned so I would think that I should have plenty of bass in there now, but they are only getting the real small GSF.

 

I have not caught any LMB yet this year though and not sure when the new YOY ones would start to bite or how big they would be right now.

 

I have put in about 10-15 in the 8-13 inch range and could add more if need be, but it is pretty hot now so not sure it would be smart to move any of them now.

 

I do think my pond is pretty stretched as I caught a CC the other day that was only 12 inches long and 10.5 oz, these were stocked 12/2009 and I am feeding GFC 4 times a day right now and switching to Aquamax in 2 weeks when it comes in.

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 17, 2011 at 9:22am

The hatcheries you mention are good hatcheries but if I were looking to buy coppernose in your area I wouldn't buy from anyone other than Overton, possibly Tyler Fish Farms as they emphasize pure-strain Florida genetics on their site.  The hatcheries you mentioned have good fish of other species; I've just never seen a coppernose bluegill that came from Arkansas that looked to be pure-strain.

 

Stocking more fish into an already-overpopulated pond, unless the new additions are predators, is just complicating and exacerbating the problem. 

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 17, 2011 at 9:19am

If I were you, I wouldn't stock any more fish in your overpopulated pond until you got those GSF under control.  They can be knocked down, for sure - I've done it.  But you have to stock larger-size predators; if you stock predators that are fingerlings they'll get eaten.

 

Were the bass you stocked larger specimens?  If so, and they're not controlling the GSF, you just need to stock several more bass 8" or better (so they're big enough to immediately start eating the GSF), as in fifty or a hundred.  Then once the GSF have been severely curtailed, you could either stock 4-5" coppernose, or sink a cedar tree or two and stock a bunch of fingerlings right into the tree so they have cover to escape predation.

 

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't stock any more species than you already have in that pond.  And, stocking more bass to thin out the GSF probably wouldn't be my first choice for that pond if I wanted to raise coppernose - the most surefire option would be to rotenone the pond and start over.  You would save the expense of buying larger bass, as well as the expense of buying more coppernose than you need, or larger specimens to avoid predation.  You could stock the pond with just largemouth and coppernose, and have an awesome pond within a couple years.  You'd have better fishing within a year of stocking than what you have now, by far.

Comment by Zach Pierce on June 17, 2011 at 6:07am

 

Well if we get one of the other ponds fixed up I may give them a shot, I did put some in from Dunn's (not sure if they are pure or not) but have yet to catch one of them yet.

 

I just figured that this past year we have -31 degrees where my pond is and I am sure ice cover for some time so thought that may make some difference.

 

I have heard that JM Malone’s and Sons has Coppernose, and also Hybrid Crappie, have you heard anything about them?

 

I also have talked to Suttle Fish and they do ship but only the small ones, and they would be eaten in my pond.  I guess if I stocked at a high enough density I would probably get some to live but not sure how many, plus my pond already has too many fish in it and I need to thin them out.

 

Just trying to get them large enough to get a small fillet, or just scale them, hate to waste them.  Have also tried to work out a deal with the bait guy to either buy them from me, sale them for me for a fee, or just trade me out for some FHM or GSH.

 

I did however find out he can get some Koi and Israeli Carp, can or should either one of these be stocked in a pond?

 

I thought 2-3 Koi or maybe 1 Israeli Carp might be neat for the kids to watch but not sure what an Israeli Carp is and what they are used for.

 

Thanks

Comment by Walt Foreman on June 16, 2011 at 6:45pm

Overton's has pure-strain, and they also selectively breed them for best coloration and growth - they have really outstanding coppernose bluegill.

 

It's not too cold where you are for them, Zach - there's a hatchery in Mississippi that is well-respected, Suttle Fish Farm, and they have shipped coppernose as far north as Michigan and claim they've had clients successfully raise them there.  I doubt they would grow as well up there, and that far north I have no doubt one would lose some.  But you most definitely are not too far north for them. 

 

I don't know where in OK you are, but Oklahoma City is at a slightly lower latitude than where I live in TN, and I guarantee you I'm not too far north for CNBG because I know of several ponds in which they're doing incredibly well, most of which I manage.  One half-acre pond in which the deepest water is maybe eight feet on a good day, had some 1-2" fingerling CNBG stocked last June, pure-strain from American Sportfish in AL (the hatchery that originated F-1 bass), and some of those fish are already over 8" long, and the owner just started feeding them two months ago so that's mainly without feeding.

 

There's a hatchery in Maryland that sells coppernose bluegill - they have a profile on this site, Maryland Select Hatchery.  They're significantly north of you, of course, and coppernose are obviously doing well for them. 

Comment by Zach Pierce on June 16, 2011 at 12:04pm

I think Overtons in Texas has the real deal, but too far for me to go to get some.  Plus it gets too cold up here for them.

Comment by 10.5" RES Sharon on June 16, 2011 at 11:37am

I have heard the only true strain of coppernose are from FL. And, from Redlands fishery in Tyler TX.

Comment by Zach Pierce on June 16, 2011 at 11:05am

I wonder if that is what Dunn's coppernose are like?

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