Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Observation on Feed Fed Largemouth Bass

We had a similar issue back in 2005 when we were getting serious about raising feed-trained bass in several recreational ponds, starting with Richmond Mill Lake in North Carolina. I called Dr. Mark Griffin, nutritionist with Purina Mills then, and we started to brainstorm. We'd been feeding a salmonid feed, and were worried about fatty livers and big fat deposits in guts of bass. Mark studied it and began to build a feed to match the nutrition for bass via pellets. Long story, but he did it by altering the amount of fish meal, changing the fat type and amount, adjusting the vitamins and micronutrients and pretty soon he'd invented AquaMax Largemouth, the best commercially produced feed for feed-trained bass. Fish fed that diet aren't blue, and don't have the big amounts of gut cavity stores of fat or fatty livers. When feeding the salmonid feed, we'd see Wr's of 150-170. After he adjusted the feed, I was really comfortable with 115-130 Wr's. Fish gain is excellent with much less accumulated fat. But, we still have to remember we are dealing with a predator fish designed to make a living off live fish.