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Hybrid sunfish in Ponds

Its only been a few years that I have caught hybrid sunfish to speak of. We found some in a local pond and discovered that they were the green sunfish/bluegill cross that are produced for fast growing and quick fishing opportunities.

Some pond owners and anglers do not like these fish, claiming that they can cause problems with spawning purebred bluegills and become overly aggressive and all. My brief experience with them has been pleasant and with big fish to boot.

The one pond we fish is about 2 acres and has bluegills , lm bass and the hybrids. These hybrids can show spawning colors and body configurations of both male and female parents. in the photo 'Giant Hybrid', my wife Linda is holding one that was just under 12 inches and displayed the short gill flap of a female bluegill and gave the apperance of being heavy with roe. We didn't have a scale, but figured that the fish was a 2 pounder, maybe more. It was promtly released after photos.

Other big hybrids we have caught there have given the look of spawning male bluegills...larger gillfap, 'helmet' head and darker hues. It is the orange or yellow fin and tail edgings I dig on these amazing sunfish. Some are so colorful that they look like something out of the Amazon rather than our neighbors farmpond.

One more thing...this pond has a small population of very big pure strain bluegills to compliment the hybreds. Most of them are over a pound, some bigger. I often see large, isolated spawning beds in late spring which I believe to be the attempts of the hybreds.

Anybody got any insight on this? Thanks.

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Comment by Chris Armbrust on February 26, 2009 at 12:47pm: Is there any way to stabilize this hybrid strain?

Comment by Nate Herman on January 31, 2009 at 5:42pm: Lots of good info there ol' Mike. Ultimately purebred bluegill do grow larger than hybrids, but in a typical real pond setting (not a closed system) the aggressiveness of the hybrids help them outcompete and grow quicker than their cousins most of the time. This fish we caught today from my best bluegill fishing pond. Most of the bluegill in the pond are purebred and 8" actually is their average length. There is a small percentage of the population that are descendants from hybrids stocked a long time ago. All the original hybrids are long dead, but occasionally we catch an offspring from a male hybrid and a female bluegill. They are all 11"+

Comment by Bruce Condello on January 31, 2009 at 5:10pm: Excellent post, ol' Mike.

Dr. Robert Hayward is as smart as they come. He is a fisheries biologist with a sterling reputation and he really knows his bluegill. I've met him at a seminar before. That is a really good link, and I agree with every single word.

Comment by Michael J. Searl on January 31, 2009 at 8:45am: This is a good read about the truths of Hybrid Bluegill.http://www.mosportsmen.com/fishing/bluegillmyth.htm Mike

Comment by Chris Armbrust on January 30, 2009 at 6:23pm: I put about 800 from farley fish farm in a 6.5 acre pond the 200 the following year and since then been stocking true blues from the quarry. about 200 or so. anyone ever fish the old sugar creek stone quarry off of st rt 41 in fayette county ohio? been shut down since 1988. one way in, one way out! don't get caught. biggest gills ive seen. my grandpa says he caught fish in the fifties there. luckily i gots permission.

Comment by Nate Herman on January 30, 2009 at 6:12pm: Hybrid Bluegills definitely have their time and place! Bruce came up with a real good list of pros and cons. Let me give you some examples of perfect Hybrid Bluegill stocking scenarios: Any time you have a pond and you want to focus on taking kids fishing! They have big mouths to eat kid friendly presentations, are very aggressive, and dont get hook shy!
They take to artificial food instantly and can grow to eating size in just one season if fed properly. Perfect fish for a put and take fishery!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on January 30, 2009 at 4:43pm: Chris, the few ponds that I have seen with successful hybrid fishing seem to be less than 2 acres and have maybe only two other species in them like bass and gills or bass and channel cats. I dont know the dynamics/size of your pond but it seems you have quite a variety of fish in it with perhaps minimal spawning substrate. Like Bruce said, the hybrids are poor, yet aggressive spawners, and, if you want them in your water they have to be stocked periodically.

Comment by Chris Armbrust on January 30, 2009 at 6:10am: I stocked the crappy hybrids at first stocking and suplemented our pond with what I call quarry gills from an old stone quarry about a mile away. in the 4 years the pond has existed nothing but the lg mouth bass has reprodeuced. we always see blugill fry during spawn time but they disapear. i've stocked channel cats, redear, grass carp and large mouth, and about ..lol..five sm mouth bass. I read they breed back to green sunfish. Is this true? I hope not, thats a trash fish IMO. Maybe hybrids are ok in their own little pond. I dont like them or grn sunfish.

Comment by Bruce Condello on January 28, 2009 at 8:29pm: Hybrid sunfish have some specific advantages.

1. They are agressive
2. They often possess hybrid vigor or "heterosis", which is another way of saying they are robust.
3. They don't spawn with any great success, which can keep down competition.
4. They're often cool looking.

They also have several inherent disadvantages.

1. Their bigger mouth may make them outcompete bluegill for certain sized resources.
2. They make poor forage fish because of low fecundity.
3. They are more likely to eat gamefish then some other smaller mouthed sunfish.
4. They need to be restocked to maintain numbers.
5. They may dilute pure sunfish genes by dominating prime spawning grounds.