I paid for some 6-9" fish and some 4-6" fish. I would say of the 6-9" fish I bought a lot of them tended toward 9" and in the 4-6" lot a lot of them tended towards the 4". There could have been some 10" or greater. Jerry Hartley said all the fish were from the same brood pond. The difference in size was the difference in how well the fish took to feed. I have found the same thing in my YOY SMB. The ones that are aggressive towards pellets and get on feed grow fast and the others not so much. When the water is clear enough I can see which ones are feeding and which ones are not.

So I would assume it was some of the largest fish that spawned the next spring. I have lots of 4-5" SMB now I can see and catch around the edges of my my RES/SMB pond. Or at least I could catch them back when the water was warmer. Now they mostly just look at or ignore my bait since the water has cooled and become exceptionally clear. I had so many I caught thirty or more and are growing them in another pond I have without large predators.

Here is a picture of one of the recruits that I transferred to my forage pond. . SMB 2018 recruit

Last edited by snrub; 10/27/18 10:09 AM.

John

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