Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations the pond manager's "crystal ball"

hey y'all. been a couple of days. sorry. told ya i'd get back with ya on how i've used a notebook to raise trophy bass. back when i got serious about management, as i've already detailed, i started a journal. i've already covered how i started the journal with my goals, objectives, and dreams, so i won't belabor those points. but i told ya that this little notebook also served a very important second purpose. it was my "crystal ball" with which i could accurately predict which bass in the pond were destined for greatness. that's what i hope to cover here. but a word of caution before you read any further. if you are dealing with big ponds, if you are not really serious about raising lunkers, or if you do not want to invest a little (and by a little, i mean VERY little) more time than usual in your management process, stop reading here. what i'm about to say will be impractical for you.

we all know that when it comes to raising monster bass in small ponds, selective harvest is a must. sadly, most folks don't seem to pay too much attention to proper selective harvest for the purpose of raising trophies, even when they THINK they're doing a great job with it. yes, they are dilligent. and yes they harvest in correct proportions. but unfortunately sometimes they are shooting themselves in the foot by removing the WRONG BASS. unknowingly, sometimes pond managers fire their franchise players! to make it worse, they keep sub-par performers on the team. i'll illustrate on a small scale to make things a little more simplistic.

one day joe goes fishing at his pond. he's been at this pond management thing a while and has now decided he wants some lunkers in his water. joe realizes he needs to take a fish or 2 out every so often to make his goals a reality. so on this particular outing, joe catches 2 healthy fish, a 3 pounder and a 4 pounder. well, this is a no brainer for joe. he quickly releases the 4 with dreams that this fish will one day be a jaw-dropper. without a second thought, he harvests the 3 to accompany some slaw and hush puppies. he goes back to to the house patting himself on the back for a successful "selective harvest" thinking he's right on track.

here's the problem. what joe didn't realize was that the fish he released was a male fish that had basically topped out in growth. over the past year, that fish had only shown a net gain of 3 ounces. the one he kept for the skillet was a little female destined for greatness until her progress was permanantly brought to a screeching halt that day. prior to being caught, that fish had doubled her body weight from the previous year. her growth rate was fast, and the sky was the limit. like a snowball rolling downhill, she was gaining even more momentum with each passing month. she was one of joe's "star players". of course the key word here is "was" because now she's swimming in the fry daddy instead of joe's pond.

poor joe. but we can't fault him though, can we? he was just doing what seemed right. there's no way he could have known that he had released a fish back into his pond that would never be any bigger than 4.75 pounds. there's no way he could have imagined that the one in his belly would have grown to 11.5 had she been allowed to live out her days. it's just not possible that he could have guessed all that from a half hour fishing trip. or is it?

enough typing for now. more later if anyone is still interested.

I think we may have another rising star here.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Yeah I am wondering myself? I am not much for all the drama that seems to be with this story. Sorry I just want/need answers and advice and direction not a 15 chapter story. Just kidding Jig but I am sort of impatient being a new pond owner and all.

come on with chapter 2 already, will ya!

"Just kidding Jig but I am sort of impatient being a new pond owner and all."

RC, I think that's part of the the equation,'patience is a virtue'.

Weither it be fiction or non-fiction its still worth the time since it makes you think out of the box which is what we should do anyway. So far its questionable too some, but if nothing else jignpig will lull you in for a good read.

Write more.

Well, I got a pm from jignpig.
We've spooked him off with our skepticism.
I, for one, was intrigued to hear what he's done and how he's grown those monster fish.
Maybe he'll reconsider.
In his pm, he shared a few of his techniques and I have no doubt he knows what he's doing. He's just willing to work at it harder than most people are. He's done some extremely thoughtful culling, learning how to read his fish and figure out which ones are young, fast growing fish and which ones aren't. He figured out some techniques to use competition between fish to teach some of his fish how to eat artificial feed instead of doing it the traditional ways we are all used to.
He's figured out how to manage his natural food chain in the best ways to feed his targeted fish.
It would have been a good out-of-the-box strategy to learn. He's kept a meticulous journal and has used a deeper line of thought than most people.
He's a father, husband and worker first, pond manager fourth. He doesn't type fast and it takes time for him to post. When he reads how we want him to cut to the chase over something he's passionate about, he feels the need to not do it...same when we infer 'fact or fiction'.
While this isn't designed to be an admonishment, it's sad to me on two fronts. One, we live in a fast food society and tend to be impatient with people. Two, it bothers me when someone gets their feelings hurt even the tiniest bit, over something we think is fundamentally trivial.
He should get past the comments and post his thoughts.
We should all be more thoughtful how we talk through our keyboards.
I should probably keep my keyboard-based mouth shut on this one.

I hope i'm the first to reply here... I stated the 'fact or fiction" part and ment it (wait!). That being said, please understand it was only because it was a statement about an unknown entity. I certainly wanted to hear more and still do. I did not mean to upset or offend and if i did here is my public apology to jignpig right now. I liked his style of writing and made mention of it lulling you into reading it. I hope he didnt think i was being unkind and i hope he writes more. I evidently was part of the reason for him not wanting to stay and for that i sincerly apologize to the others on the forum as well. It was not my intent to run him off. At the time i wrote that i did not feel jignpig would have that type of reaction to my post. I am sorry if i offended, it was not what i intended.

I hope we didn't run jignpig off. I thought that his story was very interesting and enjoyed the way he presented it.

I second that!

jignpig, I wish that you'd reconsider. I really was (and still am) interested in what you'r techniques are, and now I'm really interested in hearing how you do it, especially how you feed train the LMB, and how to tell who the "shining stars" are.

I note Bob's comment. This is why we try to remind folks of the reluctance of many to even post and the need to be careful with what we say. I did not take any of the prior posts as overly negative but can understand how a new reluctant poster might not understand all the personalities and comments. It is very difficult to write what we feel or think so others will understand not only the facts but the emotion behind them. Kidding can come across as anger , legitimate questions as disbelief and a needed warning of possible results as criticism. So we need to think how others will take the exact words we use.

I sent jignpig a PM asking him to join in the fun.

Don't include me in your we've. I din't spook anybody, I loved the guy and had some great posts with him. I've got abused a lot worse from some of the old timers here. But I just let that roll off my slimy back. I respect his accomplishments and his presentation, and if he is done here I respect that as well. Even if I can't follow his path it was a lot of fun readin about his. I hope he gets his state record and may all of his fish be lunkers. Good for him.

Pm sent.

Jignpig, I hope you'll stay. I for one would love to hear more about what you're doing and I really enjoy your writing.

Ditto.

Please reconsider jignpig. I was eagerly anticipating each new post from you. Your unique writing style always kept my interest that I could relate to with a distinct human element. I have been a part of this forum for five years now and have for the first time used the "follow" button for distinctive members on you. Not that I don't enjoy many others perspectives, just that I don't want to miss any of your captivating posts. I will be saddened if we lose the talent and insight such as yours because of a few indiscriminate comments. Please, anybody considering any skeptic jabs in an effort of weak humor... Just keep it to yourself in the name of making this great forum ever better.
Out of respect for all here,
Blaine

well i didnt send you a pm jignpig, and i havent posted on this thread yet, but i'll let you know here that i've thoroughly enjoyed your enormous contribution to this forum so far, and hope you decide to come back. you are a talented individual, and i'd love to hear more. even for those that dont grow bass, yer management approach is compelling.

and i'll bet a nickel, i probably speak for hundreds of other people lurking about and not posting.

I think he done flew the coop.
Shane! Come back, Shane!

o.k. y'all. back. never intended to leave, just needed a minute. probably my fault more than anyone's. bad week at work so far. when you're new, it's really kinda hard to know how to take things sometimes. even harder on absolute minimal sleep. maybe some of y'all have been there and know what i'm talking about. anyway, i see things in a different light now. thanks for setting me straight. it's all good. and even though it might be hard to explain things completely sometimes, i'll try to be a little more brief and to the point in my posts if that's what y'all really want. quicker for y'all to read. quicker for me to type. guess i can always try to answer questions if necessary. thanks to those who pm'd. that meant a lot. really. i tried to respond to everyone that did. if i missed anyone, i apologize sincerely. promise it was not intentional. in the future please don't think you can't joke around or say what you wanna with me. that wouldn't be any fun at all. i'll try very hard to take things as they are intended and we'll make this work. try me. my mood will be much better after friday once i'm in a new boat. let's do this.

Thanks for continuing the party jignpig. I am not a LMB guy, but still find your passion very interesting. Many of your ideas will work with any fish, not just LMB. Keep on posting...

good news and bad news...
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good news: we're back on track with JnP Hawg report
bad news: he is considering changin' his info delivery method to conform to a presumed forum need. WRONGO! jignpig...you stay right where you started; in your comfort zone. Period.
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thanx, man

Jignpig I am definitely intrigued. I spent the daydream portion of the commute (Both ways) thinking about your comments on culling. From a survival of the fittest and resource allocation standpoint it makes total sense.

I wish I could know my fish that well! Yes I know a couple of large Bluegill with a dozen holes in their upper lips, but I'm lost with my prized possessions.

I did see some tags in Jones Fish that could be useful, but I'm not sure yet. I am curious how you approached this issue.

P.S. I actually enjoy your thought provoking posts, as I said you have me looking at my pond from a different perspective.

Yea! Glad your back. I'm with Brettski pick up where you left off.

Wish I was getting a new boat on Friday