The pond is past its prime and hasn't been managed at all (yes, alot of it is my negligence). I have only caught 2 keeper fish out of it this year.
I have started to harvest, need to fertilize or lime (depending on tests), add structure, forage, and better genetics. An uphill battle, but I refuse to intentionally harvest an 8lb bass (there are replicas if I wanted one).
The hinge warning is good advice, and I've received other very handy tips from this forum. However, some of the comments are rather simple minded, pessimistic, and so pedantic that the poster has absolutely no sense of humor. It's OK, I still enjoy most of the forum.
My dad used say to never judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
Given your situation, I wouldn't remove her either. She isn't experiencing peer competition or compromising the growth of up and comers. Their is no management reason to take her out. It is possible that she is eating enough 6" to 8" LMB to give you a good hand with the culling you need to do. I was only saying ... managing large fish is not retarded when you have a lot of large fish to manage. What is right for your situation isn't right for everyone.
