Greeting Fellows!
Was out of town this weekend, and was not at a computer. Zach! Glad to see your back! was getting worried. I real appritiate (spelling) all the hard work that is going into this research it's really a good topic!
Zach I totally agree with you infact I used your fishery as an example. I know Blues tended to be mor like bass in nature when it comes to food. Here is a good example: We had two 1 acre ponds pond A and pond B. Both had F1 LMB in them. Pond A the LMB were "trained" to eat strickly pelleted fish food, while pond B The bass ate the shad every day. Now which do you supposed has healther fish? I would think the pond where the bass were eating the shad! I think this is sort of what is happening with the blues here on the growth rates, and maybe even on there survivle.
Zach big question here, Do you practice catch and release with you blues in your pond? If so Are you fish dying like ever body else's?
Dudley, that is a very good point this is very possible. If so, I am going to have to be carefull because the deepest part of my lake is going to be around 27 feet deep! In the process of building the lake now I need to take precaution..
jbrocker, I wonder if blues are more hardier than bass an bluegill thats a good question? They sould be they are in the catfish family. Also what kind of lake do you have? how deep is it? What other fish do you have? How big and old are the two cats, in general?
I also wonder if Flatheads have this same problem?
BrianH, I have done a TON...of research on the web I go on there just about everday! looking for specific info on raising bluecats in ponds and lakes..I find almost nothing. Find a ton of stuff on channles of course, but very littel on blues.
One of the thing I mentioned was the fact that there could be two different strains of the fish! I tell you when I go fishing in the Santee Cooper lakes in South Carolina. Every body local calls the 'Arkensaw Blue cats', I really think there is somthing to this...Before I got on this website, if you asked about a larg mouth bass, I would have told you there was only one type out. I had no idea there was a northern strain and a F1 strain, the same with natvie and copper nose bluegill. People seem to not do alot of research and studdy on these type of fish. I think there is alot more info outhere than we know and this could be one of those bits of info.
We are speculating on alot of this info but let me tell you, between low oxygen, murcky water, water chemistry, poor diet, and possibly poor genetics, there has to be a logical explination for these vast differances in survivle rates! I wonder if the growth rates are tied in with this "released survivle", new name for this proplem..
Well I know I wrote allot here but I think, well for me any ways, this is the most important topic ever on this site! By the way some on ask where I am from, I live in the northeast Atlanta area...
