# Hybrid Striped Bass- Good or Bad



## natelefty (Apr 12, 2010)

I have a new .5 acre pond built a year and half ago. Last summer put in 50 LG mouth bass 3-4", 200 hybrid bluegill 1-2", 30 channel cat, and a bunch of fattheads. Wondering to put in a few Hybrid bass or not. Heard both ways that they are too heavy eaters and will devour everything, and other side says they are ok. I also am pellet feeding but no aerator. Thanks for any input!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Hybrid stripers are very limited by mouth size. Largmemouth bass are far more capable of overeating a ponds forage base than hybrid stripers. Hybrid stripers will not reproduce either so their numbers are easily controlled. Hybrid stripers take pellets readily, reducing their need for forage fish.

I see two possibilities.

If it were my pond, I would remove as many hybrid bluegill as I could catch and replace with standard bluegill. Remove half of the channel cats and bass this year. Next year make an assessment of the forage base. If plenty of small bluegill are present, hybrid stripers stocked at a rate per year that you will consume once they grow to size up to a maxium of 25. This is the way to go if you are not planning to feed pellets multiple times per day and if largemouth bass of size is a priority. Hybrid bluegill may grow faster for a few months but standard bluegill will out grow them. Hybrid bluegill do not produce nearly enough forage to support even a low density stocking of largemouth bass. 

Option two is to go ahead and add the hybrid striped bass and ramp up feeding pellets. You'll basically be doing an put and take aquaculture pond and the system would be dependent on feeding pellets. The hybrid stripers, hybrid bluegill, and channel cats will grow great on multiple feedings per day. You'll probably get several LM bass that stay on pellets and grow well up to about 5lbs. too. You'll have to keep a close eye on water quality as the biomass grows and fertility increases. Fish will need to be removed and restocked regularly.


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## natelefty (Apr 12, 2010)

Thank you for the info. I am curious why remove half the cats and lg mouth, not enough food to support them? Feel like I wasted $$ last year stocking them I have many minnows left in pond at this time, and feed twice daily. The pond wont be fished enough to remove a lot of fish. Would adding some bluegill and say 10 stripers while feeding twice daily be adequate, while removing some lg mouth and cats over a period of time.

I guess my fear with bluegill is that at my grandmothers pond 1/4 acre, there are a ton of nice bluegill but no big lg bass. Not sure why. Pond been there since '78. Too many small bass maybe. Not too much harvesting of bass. Thought there would be amply bluegill fry to feed them tho. Thanks!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

What are your goals for your pond? Trophy hybrid bluegill? High catch rates? It is helpful if you have a clear stated goals.


I think you overstocked largemouth but it will give you the opportunity to cull those fish that aren't performing well so what you have left are the best performers in your particular pond. You likely won't have any problems for a year two but it is better that you are proactive rather than reactive to a problem. Keep an eye on them and check relative weights. If they start getting below average on weight, it's time (maybe even a bit late) to start culling. They bass that are eating pellets will be noticeably heavier, keep these (assuming your going to feed pellets long term). Bass often repopulate quickly but 200 hybrid bluegills may slow overpopulation in your case.

I'm not a big fan of hybrid bluegill in most cases. They're OK if you are just looking for low management and easy fish for kids to catch or just to have a few for novelty. They work well in very small ponds mixed with channels too. They don't make sense for a bass pond if larger bass are the goal unless you plan on supplementing large amounts of forage (I'm not talking about 15 or 20lbs of fatheads per year, more like a couple of hundred pounds in your case). They have larger mouths than standard bluegill cutting in on a larger forage size that bass could utilize. Although there are some pretty fantastic claims about hybrid bluegill, all scientific research I have seen says standard bluegills will outgrow hybrids. Personal experience has also shown better growth from standards, especially past 7" mark. 

The catfish will grow fine on feed alone but as they get larger, they will start eating larger fish. Catfish grow a lot faster than bass, removing the catfish was to take pressure off of bass forage. I would not stock more channel cats than you plan to eat in a year, they grow really fast and are cheap to restock. I pulled a 12lber out last week, and several over 10lbs last year. That's a lot of fish and 2-3lbers taste better. 1 or 2 big ones is a fun surprise but 30 8lbers sucking down feed is a waste of money, IMO.


You've basically given your pond a headstart to being like your grandma's, bass heavy. Too many bass leads to starved bass and large bluegill. The bluegill grow large because there is plenty of food for them since the young of the year bluegill are quickly eaten by the bass. This is good if you want a great bluegill pond. Unfortunately Hybrid bluegills aren't the path to trophy bluegill since they don't get as big.

Your minnows will disappear quickly. Fatheads wouldn't survive predation more than 2 or 3 years with only the hybrid gills present. They're good for starting up a pond but are simply too small and slow to expect them to perpetually replenish themselves. I stocked them initially in my pond, put out spawning structure (pallets, cedar shakes), fed them and by the end of the first year you could almost walk across them there were so many. By year 3, they were gone and this was in the presence of standard bluegill offspring and only about 25 bass. I've also feed pellets once per day. This will change to 2 or 3 times a day this year for me.

It's going to take 500lbs of forage (and some portion of pellets if they're eating pellets) to push your current bass up a pound. That's a lot of minnows. Things usually grow great for the first few years because the fish are small. Your bass will probably spawn this year or next all while your hybrid bluegill will not, at least not significantly. 

I think you would be happy with hybrid stripers but should get the rest of the population in balance first. Or you can do what you like and see what happens and tell us about your experience.


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## natelefty (Apr 12, 2010)

I would like to have some big bass in the pond, bluegill are fun for the kids to catch but I like big fish! so I think I will go with your option 1. There is so many different opinions on stocking rates it is hard to know what to do. Your assessment makes sense to me though. May add a few stripers now just for the hell of it. Thank for you help!


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Definitally get some gills in there man. You have a lot of mouths to feed!


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## natelefty (Apr 12, 2010)

Workin on it. Have taken out about 25 hybrid blue and will get some standards in there soon. Also have taken out 6 LMB. Have a lot of fatheads in there yet too. They are eating pellets good, but no cat sightings yet?! Will get maybe 10 HSB in a couple weeks 6-8".


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## BFG (Mar 29, 2006)

> They are eating pellets good, but no cat sightings yet?!


We used to cull channels out of my cousin's pond to help stock the sub-division ponds down the road. It really helped all of the ponds in the end. 

Drop a chunk of hot dog under a slip bobber in the deepest part of the pond. Mr. Whiskers can't resist Oscar Meyer...


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