Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose weight of bass

does anybody know what the average weight of a 18" bass should weigh in the south.(louisiana)

A little over 3.25 lbs.

lee - As far as I know body shape of all largemouth bass is the same which means the "standard" weight of a "normal" 18" LM bass will be the same no matter where it lives; south, north, east or west. Buzz's answer is correct and same as the std. weight of 3 lb 4 oz reported by B. Lusk in Raising Trophy Largemouth Bass (pg 121). If the fish is a female full of eggs, it can have a "normal" ar average weight of 3 lbs 8 or 9 oz. (up to 10% greater).

In past studies of natural occurring LMBass collected in fisheries studies the weight of 18" LMB has ranged from a low of 2 lbs to a maximum of 4.1 lbs. Cecil Baird frequents this forum and his pellet raised bass are extremly fat and plump. He might see this and give us the weight of his typical fat 18" bass. HE routinely harvests and weighs fish of this size and larger for taxidermy purposes.

Here's a link to the company my stepfather runs, www.gatorgrip.com/fishform.htm . They make the Weighmaster Rules used in many fishing tournaments and have a weight calculator on their website for several species of fish. They also make some other great fishing accesories.

thanks,i would like to say you are killing me with good information.i thought for sure we had caught our 1st 4 + pound bass,i forgot to look in my raising trophy bass book yesterday so i thought you guys would know.guess we need to just sit down and wait our turn.i'm trying to age this lake to fast i guess,maybe late summer are for sure next spring we will see our 1st big bass.never know maybe next year we might pass the 4 pound range and see a 5 pound bass.

bill,i will have to go back an re-read this part of book.i thought in the south a 18" bass was a little heaver than up north.that that i think about it maybe i saw were we get to that size a little faster??????

Yes, growth rates vary between southern and northern fish including bass providing each lives in a balanced environment. This is due to a longer growing season the further south you go. In a longer growing season, a bass will eat more food for a longer period of time each year thus it will result in more growth for the southern fish.