My F1 Hybrid or "Tiger Bass" arrived from Arkansas this morning. Despite being a fishing nut, I swore to myself I'd never own an aquarium but I made an exception for this case. Going to feed them up heavily before fall, at which point at least half will get acquainted to my pond before winter at a less digestible size to the existing Bass, and the remainder to be added next spring. F1's are a mix of a Northern and Florida strain bass, where they get the hardiness and aggressive traits of a Northern strain, and the heightened growth genetics of a Florida. They've been added to numerous lakes across the country and have made ordinary bodies of water into trophy lakes in short order, some even above the Mason-Dixon line. F1's genes are passed through three generations before breeding out. There is very little information online regarding their success or failure in northern climates, but I've accepted the possibility that while they will ultimately become aggressive feeders and more fun to catch, they may not necessarily translate that to pounds like a Northern strain would in my climate. I'll be the guinea pig! The Minnow, Shiner, and Gill bill is sure to get bigger and that's perfectly ok with me if these grow half as fast as they do for pond owners in the south and mid-south!
Stay tuned for either a shining success or a failure with unintended consequences!
