Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Is anyone here had experience with CopperNose Bluegill? I have heard that they are larger and grow faster than the native bluegill here in TX.

The bluegill i raise are coppernose. I dont know that they grow noticeably faster than regular blue gill. You may be able to get them to 1lb in ~2 years.

The upside is they will live outdoors year round. And readily take to commercial feed.

if you want faster growing fish you may want to look into a hybrid bluegill. Like many hybrids they posses hybrid vigor. The commonly available bg hybrid around here a cross between blue gill and green sunfish. The offspring are about 80% males, they grow faster and get larger than either parent. They are an attractive looking fish and usually have the larger mouth like the green sunfish. They are are aggressive feeders and the large mouth helps them eat bigger prey.

I was looking at Overland Fisheries in Buffalo, TX where they said that the coppernose will gain 8-12 oz in a year if they are well fed food that has 32-40% protein . Have you found that to be true Brian?
I was looking for a fish that is good to eat, grows quickly, easy to feed and reproduce. I have heard about the hybrids, but also heard its harder to get them to reproduce. One place said that they would need more space in order to spawn.

maybe, i have some of todd's coppernose bg, i feed high protein I have gotten some bluegill pretty big in 1 year but i dont think i have ever gotten near 12 oz in a year.. 8oz for sure. It's fair to say i dont feed optimally because under most conditions i only feed once a day.