Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Age and length of SMB

I’m sure it’s been asked before, and I may have seen the answer, but I can’t find it, and/or I don’t remember.
What is expected length of life for SMB in a pond? For some reason I have seven years in my head. We stocked 60 in one ac pond in October of 2015. We’ve now removed 5. (We also stocked 25 HSB with zero surviving, so possibly not all the SMB survived). We’ve had some recruitment, but not overwhelming, in that we’ve caught a few really small ones through the years, but not many.
Also, what would be upper end of length possible with SMB in a pond? Our largest yet is 19.5”. They are really starting to dominate the pond edges. Very big and healthy.
Just trying to manage population. I would rather harvest them, than have them die of old age. I also don’t want them to impact the YP population too much.
Thanks,
Jeff

The stats are based on large numbers of data input from many reports and are averaged. That makes them a very basic guide and lots of variation exists. Generally northern fish live longer. Also fish not under stress live longer as an average. See archives and link below.


http://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Documents/weightlength3.pdf

Thank you sir. Was my 7 year lifespan number in the ballpark?
Thanks again.
Jeff

Google helps too. Looks like 10-12 years for lifespan. We will stick with just taking a few out each year.
World record was 27” and 11 lbs, 15 oz. It’s safe for now. Ha!