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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,721
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
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I'm trying to wrap my mind around the feed trained Bass. Feed trained Bass don't grow as big? They don't live as long? They reproduce Bass that are not feed trained? They have to be restocked with more feed trained Bass. Yes I like feed trained Bass I'm just trying to better manage them.
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Joined: Feb 2006
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Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Feb 2006
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Feed trained bass are mostly northern LMB. If you can find someone with feed trained florida LMB I'd imagine they would grow as big as non feed trained Florida LMB.
We believe feed trained bass die younger because they grow quicker than non feed trained bass. That's all I remember without doing additional research.
You only get feed trained bass by crowding them in small tanks and feeding them pellets while they are fingerlings. Eating pellets is unnatural to the them. In ponds the bass aren't confined to one small area so most of the time they don't learn to eat pellets.
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 317
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 317 |
Last year i bought some 2 inch Florida fingerlings from Todd's. They weren't pellet trained at first. I put them in aquarium and i could get 60% of them pellet trained in a couple of days. But that 40% never got used to eating pellets.
I tried jelly fish food and shrimp but didn't really work. Starving them for weeks didn't work too.
I need to mention that i had pellet trained Bluegills in that aquarium as well. Maybe that contributed in the process of training the bass.
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
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Here up North I have had feed trained bass (both Largemouth AND Smallmouth) stay on feed year to year. Some bass have taken to eating pellets on their own, but I'd say less than 10% of the bass spawned in the pond.
From what I've seen with other food, the life span of the bass aren't as long as non-feed trained bass, but I haven't been feeding Optimal long enough to know about that food and bass lifespan.
I AM seeing bass that are feed trained NOT eating pellets that are too small. Once bass in my pond reach about 4 pounds, they won't eat pellets that are 8mm in size, they want larger pellets, but not the 1" pellets that the AM Largemouth pellets are. They will happily chow down on 10-11mm pellets, or wait until 2-3 8mm pellets clump together.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Lunker
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Lunker
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So are you not seeing a lot of Bass spawning? This is different than most ponds? Most ponds have over spawning of bass
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,512 Likes: 830
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,512 Likes: 830 |
No, I have hit 'em hard and heavy every year to remove as many Male bass as I see, and any untagged bass. The feed trained bass all have floy tags in them.
The rule at my pond is EVERY bass that is not tagged comes out, no matter if it is 2" or 20" long. Whenever I see a male bass on a next it is caught and removed, tagged or not.
I will never get them all out, but I am slowly transitioning the pond to a SMB/HSB pond.
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Lunker
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Lunker
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If you stock feed trained Bass because they don't get over eight pounds do you decrease your chances of catching a ten pounds bass
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Joined: Oct 2014
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Joined: Oct 2014
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So are you not seeing a lot of Bass spawning? This is different than most ponds? Most ponds have over spawning of bass James, I think you can interpret what Esshup said a couple different ways.. .... Some bass have taken to eating pellets on their own, but I'd say less than 10% of the bass spawned in the pond. ... You read it as only 10% of the LMB spawned. I read it as 10% of the new spawn took to pellets. Probably need Esshup to clarify
Last edited by Bill D.; 12/09/16 06:51 PM.
Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 304
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Joined: Apr 2013
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I have been growing feed trained bass to advanced size for sale for 4 years now. The growth rate when it comes to length is no that different from a well managed pond that uses normal forage species. The biggest difference is girth. The feed trained bass will be from 40-70% above average weight. Traditionally that is fat, however there has been some improvements in feed of late and I am seeing more muscle and less fat. Especially visceral fat. In my experance feed trained bass fill a niche in the market. Feed trained LMB can be used in a new pond where you want to catch big bass now and still want to grow forage for later generations. The feed trained bass will not pressure the forage fish anywhere near the way non pellet trained will. Also they are great for adding genetics as larger fish are not prone to predation. But most of the people who buy from me just want to catch lots of big bass now so they stock heavy with my advanced size bass knowing that forage is not an issue.
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,740 Likes: 293 |
I think if you have LMB along side of some SMB and HSB (both of which eat pellet feed), the LMB will get on board with the feed easily.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Mar 2004
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cray what is your largest feed trained bass?
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