I know nothing about YP, but they look good to me Bill.

Thanks for the input John! I'm definitely not a YP expert either! I consider the YP in the picture as an "OK" fish and am happy with it. Our harvest size limit for YP is 11 inches MIN so this one just made the "cut." I set the size limit at 11 in an effort to protect the typically smaller male YP this year to, hopefully, bring up the male to female ratio. My understanding is it is best to have several males to every female to help assure good fertilization of each egg strand/ribbon.

A harvest update would not be complete without LMB. We set our harvest size at 15 inches and above this year. Here is one that made the "cut."

17.25 inches and 2 lbs 15 oz

Another one...

18.5 inches and 3 lbs 12 oz.





I did not calculate relative weight on our LMB but I am happy with these fish considering they are post spawn Northern LMB from a small pond. (Our LMB are not pellet trained and eat all natural forage)

Well done Bill

Nice fish.

Both are right around 100% RW!

Good looking fish Bill.

Thanks for the kind words Dave and John!

Bocomo, thanks for running the numbers! My unrealistic target for the fish in my pond is Rw 95 to 110% so I'm happy these fish meet that criteria. I figure less than 95 means the fish are not getting the nourishment they need and over 110 could mean they are couch potatoes and not getting the correct nourishment and exercise they need. I do supplemental feed the BG by hand tossing Optimal BG chow but try not to feed to excess. Right or wrong, in my novice opinion, I believe fish need exercise just like humans to live a long life and reach their true "healthy" potential. To achieve that, they need to chase some of their food to stay in shape.

Bill, You did good When I want to eat LMB, the size pictured are the size I want to fry up!

I agree Tracy! Perfect size. Our pond is all about growing decent sized fish to put on the table. That is why you will not see me posting about harvesting smaller fish and trying to grow trophies. My little Thai bride fishes for FOOD!

Nice LMB there Bill. Looks like they are getting plenty to eat.

Nice job Bill. The beautiful green coloring is just perfect!! Congrats!! Your water must be nice. Mine stays so muddy the fish come out almost white.

Pretty fish Bill but I bet Bob-O put that in your pond so you wouldn’t feel so bad.... lol

Good job

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

Pat,

I'm not sure about Bob O's influence with the LMB but I did see a big snapper sunning himself on the shore wearing a pink speedo!

All right, I'll bite. Just when I'm all nice and relaxed in the warm Florida sun some redneck hillbilly from Texas has ta take a jab at me. Then a fellow that can't keep uninvited fish out of his pond has to chime in. FYI, my speedo is flesh colored camo. It's like a Mepps spinner ta the blue hairs. By the way Bill, do ya have hard water yet? It was 33 when I left In on Weds. 84 when I landed 2 hrs later. Flyin is so muuch more fun than drivin.

Bob-O
Too much info. This is a family forum.

No hard water yet Bob. It was 19 F when I got up this morning though and we had a couple 3 inches of snow yesterday.

Should'nt be long with those temps. Do you and your lady ice fish? I don't enjoy the cold but did like ta set out on the ice on a sunny day and see that little bobber twitch.

Pat, was too much info lettin everyone know you're a red neck hilljack? The whole family can handle that.

I might try ice fishing this year. I'm still a little gun shy. Went thru the ice when I was running a trap line as a teenager. All alone, midnight, a long way from home, when I went thru the ice and my waders filled with water. Took me a good while to pull myself out using a lucky overhanging branch. That was one long cold walk back to the truck!...as far as I know, those waders are still there....ever since then, I don't trust ice much!

Yes, ya need to know the BOW and should always have a friend.

I think I will be staying off the "ice" this year again. It has been a weird winter so far. Had a couple of inches of ice and 12+ inches of snow around Thanksgiving. Now, ice is almost gone and supposed to be near 50 and rain by Thursday this week! We are enjoying the fireplace with all the damp and overcast weather though! ....For the folks that appreciate carvings, the masks hanging on either side are depictions of an ancient Asian King and Queen and are from Hong Kong. The long skinny thing in the middle is a dragon blow gun carved from a water buffalo bone and is from Indonesia.



Happy Holidays everybody!

I like the blow gun.

Folks,

I am pleased to announce we have a new family member here at Mutt Pond! Her name is Cocoa and she is a chocolate Lab. My wife and youngest son went out shopping together right after Christmas. I received a text from my wife with the picture below and the message, "what do you think?" The rest, as they say, is history!

Took her for a walk by the pond at 10 weeks old and she dove in despite the ice floating around. Swam around a bit, climbed out and ran like crazy for the house! I'm hoping she takes a strong dislike to geese and GBH!

Pretty young lady! Good job