Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Tiger Bass fingerling growth

In a two acre pond with plenty of small baitfish and two feeders going off three times a day.



February 25th 2024: 1,000 Copper nose BG, 250 RES, and 2,000 FHM



June 28th 2024: 100 Tiger Bass (1"-2") and 1,000 FHM



Just give me a guess based from your experience on how large my tiger bass are at 8 weeks old.




We have not seen any signs of the bass.



We are just very excited to get to see the bass

Thank you!

How big were the Tiger Bass when you stocked them in February of this year (2024)?

Around 1" - 2"

Sorry I thought I put the size in the post

Then I'd guess 4-5" long or so, but that's just a guess for just under (2) months growth with good forage.

Are you feeding?

Yes, we are feeding all the fish a high protein mixed size pellet from our local tractor supply (I think it is "Purina Giant Fish Grower")


However, I didn't really think the bass would eat pellets. I figured they would be eating small minnows, snails and little crawfish


Should I invest into a smaller pellet?

Bass can get on feed pretty quickly.

If you went with a smaller 'grower' pellet, you'd probably get more bass on pellets sooner, and have some greater initial growth.

Certainly, the bass are eating fathead fry and smaller fatheads, and soon enough, they'll be eating adult fatheads.

Can you see fish taking the feed?

We can't see the bass feeding because the bluegills are eating like piranhas. We have two feeders going so I'm sure at least a few of the have found the pellets

I think I may try to find a smaller sized pellet

It would be nice to see the bass eating though!



4-5" is about what I was thinking. Thank you

In a similar boat with "new" LMB. We stocked a little earlier, May 31 with 2", and the LMB have been tracking 1.68mm per day on avg. I hear they can grow between 1-2mm per day, some of that is probably food based.

59days x 1.68mm = 99.12mm

99.12mm / 25.4 (mm per inch) = 3.9" growth since June 28, 2024.

If you are having similar growth to what we are seeing I'd guess 4-6".

On a side note, the only reason why we have seen the LMB is we broke out the fishing pole to do a little sampling (wanted to measure growth and get some baseline RW's). We're letting them forget about the little Mepps silver spinner with a white tail in the hopes that they will continue to eat everything in the pond they can fit in there small and growing mouths.

Dang, you are all of the way down by Mobile Bay!

Hopefully, your bass are tracking along with Boondoggle's bass for now.

However, it is going to get cold this fall in Kansas and slow down the feeding of our fish. I expect your bass (and other fish) should get an extra 2-3 months of growth this fall and winter compared to the lakes significantly north of you. Should be enlightening to see your bass catch records and Boondoggle's about May of next year!

Did you get your Tiger Bass at American Sportfish? Were they pellet trained? If so, you definitely need to get them some "right sized" feed.

I don't think AS does sell pellet trained, but I believe some fish suppliers in the South are starting to sell pellet-trained F1 hybrids. (Any of our local experts - please feel free to clarify the thread on that discussion!)

In one of my previous posts I too was a little worried about the right size food for small LMB. What I was totally surprised about was how little time they stayed "small". I don't have any mouth gape data for 4-6" LMB but we did catch a few in the 6" range a few weeks back on the first sample. They hit on a 0 sized mepps spinner and had no trouble with getting the bait in their mouth. We did cut one of the hooks off and flattened the barbs on the remaining two so it was easier for us to get the hooks out. Overall the bait is very similar size to an adult FHM.

If I had a longer growing season, I would consider something like Optimal Bass (9mm) or Purina MVP which has mixed pellet sizes. I personally don't think I could get 40-50lbs of food out just for the LMB before we start to cool off.....Alabama very well could. Even if the LMB don't hit it the other fish in the pond will eat chunks of it as it starts to soften up.

They were very small, so I assume they were not pellet trained. We got them from "Alabama Fish And Pond"

The hatchery told us that the bass were going to be smaller than usual unfortunately



I think after work today ill run down and throw a little beetle spin around for a couple hours.

Thank you everyone

Hopefully a late hatch, rather than their smallest "leftovers".

In either case, you doing some sampling now might REALLY be valuable to see how your bass are doing in the "early rapid growth" stage.

Take a tape measure. Be very interested to hear how they are growing.

I typically measure everything in grams and mm and convert from there. Much easier on small fish to get accurate info.

Have some fun while you are at it!

Quick question

When you first started catching your bass, were they deep or in shallow water?

It's going to be hard keeping my rooster tail away from all the bluegill in shallow water haha

Hoping they are going to be deeper

Try a seine net. Growth rates are highly variable in a population. Yours could be anywhere between 4 inches and 10 inches. You should be able to see them patrolling the banks hunting for food early and late in the day.

Various areas but all were close to some sort of habitat. The operate just like normal bass...just smaller. If you are seeing an area of your place that is loaded with little fish....I'd hazard a guess that the LMB are going to be close grocery shopping at the same location.

Smallish areas of Lilies
Riprap with fallen tree
RipRap off the peninsula drop-offs and rock outcroppings
Dads Dream under the boat

We have tried to stay away from the feeder if sampling fish.

Holy Smokes....60days in with 1-2" LMB turning in to 10"? I wouldn't be mad....but I would be jealous!

Hey,

Don't know if anything like the chart below would be helpful or not. The chart below is growth of 2" fingerlings over a 168 day grow-out. Originally, I was just interested in appropriate stocking rates of GAM and LMB fingerlings so that the LMB didn't overeat the GAM. Was seeking the goldilocks initial GAM weight to grow a fixed number of LMB at maximum rates of growth. For the assumption of maximum growth I used maximum observed consumption when fed to repletion on GAMs which was reported in an energetics paper. Maintenance and conversion was taken also from the same paper. Assumed in this particular simulation was an average temp of 75F. They had a limited number of samples and so the observations of max consumption are probably more in line with average maximum consumption as opposed the maximum consumption absolutely. So lengths may only be expectations for the average LMB when fed to repletion. Anyways, thought I would throw it out there to see what you guys thought in terms of usefulness as a tracker for 1st year of growth. I am able to simulate proportionate consumption. For example, 150% of their maximum observations or 50% of their maximum observations. At this point, this is what it is. Growth at RW 140 at their observed maximum rates of consumption. These growth rates (BTW) do support growth of 2 lbs at the first year anniversary post hatch. Anyways, would be glad to make adjustments or plot three curves (slow, average, maximum) but I am going to need some help with defining those 3 classes.

Holy Smokes....60days in with 1-2" LMB turning in to 10"? I wouldn't be mad....but I would be jealous!

Very interesting data JPS. I'd be curious about the simulation on the other thread I posted my samples on. Don't want to hi-jack this thread.

Fished it with a white Roostertail for about an hour and a half and no luck. It has been very hot these past few weeks so I'm sure they are just slow on feeding


Will try again in a couple weeks and give updates


I am now fearing the bass were the runts of the batch

I bet the LMB are just fine BG. Reputable hatcheries sell good stock and not catching them is only a sign of not catching them. If they sold inferior stock intentionally, they wouldn't be around long.

When we have tested, it's been when a bit of cooler weather rolls through or in a cooler part of the day (morning). Definitely more comfortable for me not filling the pond with sweat rolling off my brow and likely more active fish at the same time.

Keep the faith and report back if you see something. I'd be really interested to hear what you are seeing for growth rates at some point in the future.

Go after dark with a good flashlight. Illuminate small fish in shallow water and wait and watch. Let us know what you find out.

Good idea. Small, MOTIONLESS bass in clear water are generally pretty easy to observe, especially compared to daylight when they might be acting like little submerged rockets!

ewest,

I have never done that but now you have me wanting to try. Are you saying highlight baifish and wait for LMB to notice them and take a meal? Or maybe are the LMB attracted to light?