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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 13,971 Likes: 276
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 13,971 Likes: 276 |
Based on a question most recently raised by Calvin Tynes here, if one is managing for large bass, what size and sex of BG should one concentrate on removing? Does it even make a difference?To copy rather than retype, If you are managing for big BG, concentrate on removing a higher % of small males and small to middlin' females.
The basis for small male harvest is that large, mature male BG suppress early maturation in smaller males, who then concentrate on growing big before next year rather than spending energy on spawning. Think of the bully on the beach kicking sand in the 90 pound weakling's eyes, who then bulks up via Charles Atlas so he can win his girl back.
You remove more females simply to reduce the total number of eggs available in the pond, to in turn reduce BG fry numbers (and hopefully total YOY numbers). Fewer mouths eating your pond's BG food supply means more for each BG to eat, hence bigger BG. But since the biggest females have the right genes to grow big, leave them be. As I have speculated a couple of times now, I have hypothesized that, doing much the opposite of big BG harvest practices, one would want to leave as many females in as possible. Also, perhaps harvesting those big males could be beneficial, by enabling more small males to mature and start families at an early age. I present this SWAG at BG size/sex harvest practices for big bass management, once again in the hopes that someone who knows more about big bass management than me (there are thousands of you out there) will give better advice.
I will add that since LMB prefer to eat BG 1/3 to 1/4 their own body length (just about my favorite Bob Lusk Rule of Thumb), you might NOT want to remove BG in that size range wrt your larger bass. Okay, Fisheries Pros and big bass managers (and, what the heck, other PM's no more qualified than I am), time to speak up: When managing for large bass, does the size and sex of BG removed have an impact on resulting bass growth? If so, what size and sex of BG should be most often removed from a big bass pond?
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling ![[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ed/b5/e7/edb5e7f935843b996cf52be593c9ebd2--smoothie-smooth-collie.jpg)
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,493 Likes: 266
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014  Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,493 Likes: 266 |
For a pond managed for large (aka trophy)LMB in the south if taking out a reasonable number of BG effects your LMB growth then you have nowhere near enough LMB forage. IMO for a trophy LMB pond you need forage in addition to BG and lots of it. Tilapia , GShinres , Tshad or the like in addition to BG.
There are several angles to the question so it depends. The big change recently is the suggestion to double the initial BG stocking #s. Most of the difference is not at the start but about after year 3 in the south. By then with normal BG stocking you start to be short of forage in the right sizes. Some things that make the question hard to answer are the effects of feeding , pond fertility and fast CNBG growth. One thing for sure you have to harvest LMB to match the goal.
With all that said and the fact that we don't manage for trophy LMB we still limit the number of large BG/CNBG that are removed. If I start to see many small BG spawning or other such symptoms we close BG fishing.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Fingerling
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Fingerling
Joined: Jan 2009
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so should I harvest the smaller lmb or sometimes keep the 5 and 6 lb range
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973
Ambassador
Field Correspondent Lunker
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Ambassador
Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 3,973 |
Mal if goal is quality bass why take a bass that is already 5-6 lbs he might make it to doube digits soon. Only remove if Wr is less than 75% ( skinny)
Theo my quick answer is we recommend taking males vs. females if they insists on BG harvest. Two reasons females are the ones laying eggs and they do nto get as big i.e. more preffered bass food. Could be wrong I guess with males being the ones guarding the nest. I basically tell client to really limit bluegill harvest with quality bass goals.
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