Printable View
Been 7 long years since I had fish or water in my pond. Today after several trips out catchin' from other ponds and releasin' into my pond, thought
it time to see if I could catch a few. I did and they have grown and put on weight. So happy.
Attachment 208555Attachment 208558Attachment 208561
OK that is not a typical bluegill. Beautiful fish, what is it, spotted sunfish maybe???
Looks like a rice slick (green sunfish).
That looks to be a typical Green Sunfish. Those look like fairly large ones. From my limited experience they are hard fighters and aggressive . Sure are pretty colored fish.
They do tend to overpopulate up in this area.
I'm told they are one of the best Flathead catfish baits.
If you have added bluegills also, You may want to fish these GF out.
Pretty fish.
Regards
That is a green sunfish. I had them in my pond for the first 2 or 3 years. They didn't grow as big as the bluegills and I havnt seen one come out of there in a couple of years. I guess they couldn't compete with the bass and channel cats.
Those are definitely green sunfish. This is not a desirable pond species. They have the potential to rapidly over populate your pond and outcompete other sunfish species and even bass. When this happens they will stunt out and negatively impact the other species in the pond. I would remove all of them if possible.
Sounds like I need to catch and eat. Got lots of goggle eye, pumpkin seed, and blue gill. Yes, these rascals are aggressive and fight good. Gut 'em, scale 'em and fry 'em whole.
They're hybrid bluegill which are a cross between a bluegill and a green sunfish.
I would love to have a pond like that. Nice job. You will eat real good tonight. Get your hot sauce ready.Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredRR
NOW! I feel much better! Let 'em grow some more. Thanks for the clarification.Quote:
Originally Posted by tnpondmanager
I disagree about them being hybrid sunfish. They look like a pure green sunfish to me. Reguardless, they will be fun to catch and eat.Quote:
Originally Posted by tnpondmanager
I recommend you send those pictures to your local fisheries biologist and see what they think they are and what they recommend you do. I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I just wanted you to be informed about what you are putting in your pond and what could happen. After all, it is your pond and you are free to do as you chose. We would all be blessed to have a pond like you. One of these days... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredRR
dandy shellcrackers! catch and release...into the grease
Excellent idea. And thanks, for I have been truly blessed.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
Sent this photo to our county extension agent in Weatherford, TX. and waiting for their expert input. Texas A&M experts have helped me in the past.
those are green sunfish.very aggressive and fight twice their size.they will displace other species.but they can also be culled as they feed with abandon
They're not green sunfish. I do this for a living and sunfish are my specialty. Hybrid bluegill have smaller mouths and rounder, more compressiform (like a bluegill's) bodies than a pure green sunfish. Here is a picture of a hybrid bluegill that was right at 12" and weighed right at two pounds, caught by me from a pond I was managing:
Attachment 209052
Here is another hybrid, this one with a larger mouth but still significantly smaller than a pure green sunfish's, from the same pond, 1-3/4 pounds:
Attachment 209053
Here is a photo of a pure green sunfish - note the larger mouth and more elongated body:
Attachment 209054
Here's another:
8'' Green Sunfish (5-10-15) - Bluegill - Big Bluegill
And another:
Nice Green Sunfish - Bluegill - Big Bluegill
Here's a sunfish identification guide which notes the larger mouth as a defining trait of a green sunfish:
TWRA - Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Sunfish Identification
Well, I'm glad I posted these photos. Good discussion. Confirmed they are blue gill and the points made in this discussion point out the mouth and elongated body and
shorter, rounder body shapes are distinguishing features. Mine was 11"s and I have found several more in my pond and they are growing in leaps and bounds. Haven't
found one that matches the description of the green fish yet. All of mine are smaller mouthed and rounder bodied. Thanks to all that have commented. I'm just glad to
have what I have and the youngsters fishing for them could care less what they are. They are fish and fun to catch and eat. Now if I can get the evaporation rate slowed
a little, I'll have a pond with fish for a while.
Congratulations on finding that those are not Green Sunfish-----yet. I fish a couple strip pits that were stocked with Hybrid Sunfish at one time .The sunfish genes are gone and is loaded with stunted Green Sunfish. I am not a Fisheries Bioligest but have seen ponds ruined by well meaning owners stocking Hybrid Sunfish . Enjoy the fight, those suckers can pull a line.
Technically they can't revert back to one or the other parent species, but what happens over time with hybrids is that more and more inferior genes of both parents begin showing up in subsequent generations. This is called outbreeding depression and is why it's the norm for a pond that has had hybrid bluegill for several years to be overrun with two- to three-inch-long fish that have more characteristics of green sunfish than bluegill. I almost never recommend hybrid bluegill for this reason. In southern latitudes coppernose will get bigger and are a much better choice.
This I can agree with. Whether it is a green sunfish or a hybrid green sunfish, do NOT put it in your pond. They will eventually stunt out. I have seen this happen on too many ponds as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by tnpondmanager
I'm ready to catch and fry and put some large mouth bass in the pond to eat what I can't catch. I'm still going to stock some black crappie since I'm still catching
crappie from neighbors pond that I stocked 12 years ago. Her pond is not even 1/4 acre and I've managed to keep the population down to keep them from stunting.
I just need to target more perch than in the past to cut the population down some. At least I won't be putting Green Sunfish in my pond again.
My pond is a little over an acre and has some structure and I think I can keep it under control too. Plenty of fathead minnows and perch for the crappies and a couple
of large bass should help. Channel cats have the best of both worlds with perch and floating catfish food. Always have had healthy fish and plenty of them as long as
I do my part.
I would strongly, strongly recommend not stocking crappie. They are the surest way to ruin a good pond. One of my competitors claimed a few years ago that they had found a stocking strategy that allowed for successful stocking of crappie in ponds; now they're back to recommending to all of their customers that they not stock crappie in ponds. Pretty much the only thing universally agreed upon in the pond world is that crappie are a disaster for ponds.
I agree 100%. Crappie + small pond = ruined pond. I have done many, many extension visits on farms ponds that had stunted bass and various sunfish species. The one common denominator was that they had also stocked crappie. The other big mistake that pond owners make is that they do not harvest enough on their bass and sunfish. As you know, harvest is a must to maintain a good balanced fish population in a pond.Quote:
Originally Posted by tnpondmanager
Matt, if harvesting is a must (not just in ponds), why has the AGFC changed the size limit of crappie in Lake Conway to 10"? Seems to me that is just asking for over populated and stunted crappie down the road. Can you explain? Not griping and for sure appreciate all you do for district 10, but just seems counter productive to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by D10
Length limits are effective at improving the size structure of a given species if you have good growth and a high rate of harvest (exploitation). Lake Conway has excellent growth (average 10" white crappie is around 1.5 years old) and we estimated the exploitation rate to be around 70% from a tag reward exploitation study. This is one of the highest crappie exploitation rates reported in scientific journal articles. This means that 70% of the crappie that die in a year is due to angler harvest on Lake Conway. So we already have a very high rate of harvest. The 10" MLL combined with with the fast growth will improve the size structure of harvested crappie. In other words, the average sized harvested crappie will be bigger. Sen me your email in a PM and I will send you a report in the topic with more information.Quote:
Originally Posted by ibmack
Ponds are different because they often only have a few people fishing them and some pond owners are protective of "their" fish and don't want people to harvest them. This results in stunted fish due to a lack of harvest. I have an Uncle that fits this category. It took me 10 years to convince him that he needed to harvest more fish!
Very informative. I can understand every pond is different and managed differently by individuals. Prior to my pond going dry and knowing it was going to dry up, I
had a number of friends and some from a local nursing home coming by regularly to fish my pond. I did not limit anyone on the fish harvest because I knew they
were having fish fries and I was invited to all of them. Most of those older fellers are now gone to their reward and they will be replaced by a good number of friends
and nephews and nieces that love to fish and have fish fries. Several of us fly fish and target different species, but still catch channel cats on flies and they are fun
to fight and land on a fly rod. Does not change the taste of the fish. I purchase loaves of bread and purchase 50 lb. bags of floating catfish food for perch and cats,
so they are always fed well and grow fast. If l think my fish are stunted, we fish harder and catch more. I have never had anyone complain about my fish tasting stunted or they were too small to eat. LOL My feeling is to be vigilant and mindful of what is happening in my pond. If the water gets too low, I call in the family and friends and we catch more fish. I refuse to willingly feed cormorants, so as long as I'm able to manage my pond and have the species I desire, I'm going for the gusto and just do it.
I do appreciate the advice and understand the repercussions of not being diligent in my pond management. Your comments and advice are very much appreciated and
I welcome them anytime on any topic. My home and land are up for sale and if I sold it all tomorrow, I would have no regrets. I would advise anyone that purchased it
to fish hard and follow my lead. If they do, they would enjoy what I enjoy. If not, then the ball is in their court and they can deal with it as they desire.