....It is a pond with lots of stunted largemouth bass. Yes, there are a few Big Bubba Bass (BBBs) in there. But the vast majority of LMB are 10 inches or less. In the 10-12 inch range, using the Cody Technique, I suspect the BG in that range probably outnumber the LMB by a significant number.
It is a pond I've cultured for big bluegill. It is very common to catch a number of bluegill in the 10-12 inch range. Now and then we get some bigger ones.
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Great post Ken,
With the goal of big BG, it sounds like those stunted LMB are your best buddies. Do you ever harvest any LMB or C&R only to encourage the largest population of them that you can?
Good question Bill. I certainly don't have all the answers, and it also depends on location, water, etc.
At our WV farm we do harvest all of our fish. To us, it is like a garden. To grow big carrots, you must thin them.
We do harvest mostly all of the LMB. Again, in a comparison to a garden, it is like putting radish seeds between your beets or head lettuce. The radishes make you space your other vegetables so they have room to grow.
I set a slot limit, depending on what we are catching in mid-April to mid-May in our WV farm ponds. The LMB slot limit usually ranges from 10-12 inches to about 12-14 inches. We throw back everything above and below those sizes. For us, this is relatively easy to do, because it is extremely hard for anyone to get to our ponds without being detected.
We mostly just take those that are above the slot limit. I have "rehab" cages at the end of my docks for injured fish. That is where some go.
IMO, at 12 inches, a LMB provides about the same size breaded and fried "fish fingers" as an 8-9 inch bluegill.
When we get "monster" momma or poppa LMB that are above our slot limit, with a Wr (relative weight) of well over 1.00, we return them to the ponds.
I filet and skin most fish (and venison, squirrels, etc.). For freshwater and saltwater fish, I usually get two, four or six decent bone-free pieces from each fish, depending on the fish type and how much meat is on the rib cages. On saltwater flounder (flatfish), I sometimes get six pieces depending on how fat they are. On most other fish I get four decent bone-free pieces.
We don't do much catch and release in our ponds because we don't want to create unwanted hook shyness. Bluegill less than about 6 inches and channel catfish less than about 12 inches are the few exceptions. Other than that, it is into the frying pan or to the bears-behind-the-barn gut pile smorgasbord.
Ken
