Are there advantages to stocking the F1 Bass vs. Stocking pure strain Florida Bass. Are they more agressive, and get much larger Than the Florida Strain?

Bo, The F1 bass or, "Tiger Bass", is a first generation cross
between the Florida Strain Largemouth and Northern Strain Largemouth. There are advantages to stocking F1 hybrid largemouth. The northern strain largemouth is more agressive,
hence easier to catch than the florida strain. The reason why
the F1 can grow larger is because of a slightly longer lifespan.

The Florida strain grows faster and larger than their northern
cousins. The northern strain can be trained to eat commercial
fish pellets. If it were me, I would stock F2 hybrid bass that
are 3/4 PURE florida strain and 1/4 northern strain.

Thanks for the input. We try to keep up with information about Bass. Our lake is just a little over 4000 acres and our fishing club arranges for the different species of fish to be placed in here. I will certainly check up on the F2.

I accidently placed this topic in the freshwater section and sure appreciate your replies.

Bo1bo, An F2 is usually considered offspring from F1 spawns.
They have proven to be inferior(prone to disease), and problematic(EXTEME cannibilism of young). What I am talking about is taking F1 males and spawning to the pure strain Florida
females. Before this is done DNA would need to confirm the
frequencies of alleles. I don't think that this has been done
yet, so for lack of a better term I will call it an F2 Florida
strain.

The F1 largemouth appeals to the masses, because it is labeled
as aggressive and easier to catch. As mentioned in another thread
on the subject, it will expend more energy than the pure florida
largemouth to obtain a meal. The pure Florida strain largemouth
is much harder to catch. RARELY will a LARGE florida largemouth
leave it's established territorial range. Hunting the giant florida largemouth is challenging, because you must find where
she lives. When you do find where she lives, the bait must be
presented to entice a strike. That is why several of the top 10
florida largemouth bass have been caught on live bait. 20lb class Florida largemouth do exsist, but catching them is RARE!!!!! Catching her during the spawn is probably an anglers
best shot.

When it comes to stocking, F1 bass provide numbers of 10lb class
bass, but the pure Florida strain is still the largest!

Excellent info. My thinking has been slightly wrong. The F1's being more mobile about looking for a meal. Assuming of course that TFFC, Athens, is breeding and stocking the F1.
Would the "ShareALunkers" most likely be F1's?
My reading has led me to believe that a big female won't move very far, expending her energy to claim a meal and would prefer a big meal to smaller meals. Assuming again a large meal is available. I can imagine a 13# bass eating a 6" bass. What would be easier?

Hank, DNA is taken from ALL Sharelunkers, they must be PURE
Florida strain largemouth. My husband was on the founding board
of the program. The large female bass are VERY territorial, they
will eat just about any preditory fish that ventures into their
domain. They also stake out and claim the best areas that provide
a good supply of forage fish. Sharelunker offspring are Florida
strain largemouth.

Lane, I appreciate your information. We are a private Lake with a little over 4,000 acres. We purchase all of our fish which includes the Coppernose Bream, Crappie, Catfish, Bass and Talipia. I don't believe we are in a position to become involved in the Share a lunker program due to the status of our Lake. We do have an active Fishing Club with 174-176 members. We happen to use a Biologist, Stan Smith, to help with information about the grasses and vegatation we need, and he also conducts fish surveys but we have not talked about the F1 vs Florida strain. You have helped a lot. Thanks!

Bo

Bo1bo, I would definately advise you to consult with a fisheries
biologist. I would also advise you to contact and talk with
Bob Wattendorf of the Florida Fish and Game Commission. I consider Bob to be probably one of the leading biologists in the
country on pure Florida largemouth bass. I have mixed feelings
on the F1 largemouth bass. They are definately easier to catch,
but their offspring are undesirable. If you do consider stocking the F1 bass, you might consider stocking F1's that are sterile. The eggs are heat treated to render them sterile.
I would also recommend that DNA analysis be conducted on the
largemouth currently stocked in the lake to see exactly what you
have in there. Like I mentioned in my previous posts, the Florida
strain prefers live bait like shiners and goldfish. They are hard
to catch on lures. I am pretty sure that it is illegal to stock
F1 bass in Florida, since they are trying to keep the Florida strain pure. Have you considered stocking hatchery trout during
winter and early spring months? They do make for an easy meal,
and MAJOR growth in the Florida strain. Hatchery trout are STUPID, and are no match for the ultimate freshwater predator!

Lane,
Thanks for the information. We have a consultant by the name of Stan Smith. Stan has done several test on many of our Bass, however I do not recall a DNA test. I will get with him to check that out. We have only placed 24,000 F1 variety into our Lake but over the last 7 years we have stocked about 30 to 40K Pure strain Florida. The lake record in this 4,000 acre lake is just a little over 15 pounds. We have had numerous fish in the 10-13 pound range caught here. Just about once a week we hear of 6-8 pounders being caught. Tournaments on our Lake contain about 50-55 Teams of Fishermen and our average size fish is just a little over 3 pounds. Texas Parks and Wildlife Hatchery in Athens has not recommended the F1. Hopefully, next year when it is time to buy more fish to stock we will have done a better investigation concerning the Bass Stocking Program here.
Again, Thanks for the information!

Bo

Bo1bo,

Good luck with your stocking program! Talk to David Campbell
in Athens (head of SAL program), he is a friend of ours and
will give you some good information. Sounds like you guys have
a great private lake.

Lane