These were stocked May 20th 2013. Purchased from Overton's Fisheries and were their 3" fingerlings. The pond was new construction of 1.5 acre. 1100 CNBG were stocked 1 year to the day prior to stocking the bass and had several good spawns off the BG. The pond was also stocked with RES and 18 or so albino CC a few months after the CNBG stocking. I also released 10 lbs of FHM with the bass.

My stocking number for the Camelot Bell was 75 fish.
These two bass were caught 4 1/2 months after stocking.

This one measured 8.75" and was caught on a black and chartreuse road runner. Sorry for the bad angle and washed out picture on this one. My daughter had a CC on the line and was hurrying to get him back in the water to net her fish.



This one measured right at 11"! It was caught on a white/red dot beetle spin. I had time to take better pictures of this one.









I can say I am extremely excited with the growth rate of these bass. Without the guidance of this great site I probably would have listened to one of the local fishery with their high stocking numbers instead of getting in touch with the experts at Overton's.

nice growth!

I know. I still cant believe from 3" to 11" in 4.5 months.

Congrats, those are the results I'm looking forward to.

When did you stock yours fire?

Haven't yet. Will get them next spring when they're available again. We've been heavily culling pure Florida strain LMB to get ready for them, and I was going to put them in a grow out pond before they went into the public pool. Those kind of number's would be a home run for me.

Very impressive.

Nice growth - noticed the spot on her nose!

Mine were stocked October 2012 - 6 months old~
I am a year ahead of you - hopefully got a one on one CB spawn this spring but the odds are long - F1 pure Florida anyway but will cull every LMB that is not fin clipped or spot on nose with mottled pattern on backs.








Caught CB in December 2012 - weighed in at ~2 lbs @ 15 inches - 8 months old!

That is nice george! I hope to see that kind of growth by this spring. Since you also have Florida bass, I am taking it that your pond was previously established. What size were they when you stocked?

Our CB were stocked at 6 months of age and are the pictures posted above - 8 CB total stocked in 2 acre pond - very little chance of one on one spawn.
Approx 20+ 2-3lb Floridas culled before CB stocked.
~8 Camelot Bell numbers suit me just fine considering it takes 10lb of forage for 1 lb of LMB growth - we will cull EVERY LMB from now on that is not an original CB stocker....

That is why I only stocked 75 in my 1.5 acre pond. My BG are now 6-8" and have had many good spawns since stocking 1100 2-3" mid May 2012. I see all sizes when feeding and nice size schools of 1-1.5" BG hanging out around my Christmas tree brush piles so the CB have plenty of forage.

Thanks for this starting topic Drumz - let's keep it going with updates!
I am excited over CB "catchability" and fast growth traits!
We have caught four out of the 8 so far.....don't know if same ones or not?

Drumz,
Are you feeding the fish with a feeder? If so how often and what time of day? We put LMB & CC in our new pond in July,BG May and June.
We have a Texas feeder going twice a day for 2 seconds at 8 am and 4 pm.
The were interested at first but now are not at all.I hope our fish grow as fast as yours!

I think rarely you are going to get the same growth in Iowa as one would get in the southern US (TX, LA, FL, and so on) due to lengths in growing seasons. Also, these Camelot Bass are Florida Bass and genetically selected for large growth. Not saying you can't get good growth rates in Iowa but just don't expect them to rival those of someone in LA.

I am feeding Purina Gamefish Chow to the CNBG and CC by hand in the mornings on my way to work (around 7 am). I fill up a 45oz country crock butter bowl, which is what they eat in about a 15 minutes. Lately I have seen a few bass showing up to terrorize the CNBG during feeding. Occasionally I will feed in the evenings also, the fish show up when they feel the footsteps on the bridge or a vehicle drive up.

Did not want this thread to get lost:

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=377868#Post377868

Hey, I'm sure no expert, but it seems very doubtful that Floridas would do well in Iowa. Not well adapted to that kind of winter cold. Maybe they'd survive, but if I had to guess I'd bet that Northern LMB will grow faster, bigger, and healthier.