Thank you for the warm welcome!
I will do what I can to answer but guessing is not something I will do. I have only been with Ken for two years, so I will easily acknowledge to not having near the experience or knowledge of you all (or even Ken for that matter). That is why I am so glad ML invited us to this forum. All be it I have read so many past posts that things are starting to run together. Regardless, give me a chance to gather the info that you have requested. They are good questions, and some that I too should be asking (or have had asked previously). Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day. We are not the �huge� company everyone makes us out to be. In fact our town doesn�t even have a caution light, and our office is an old cinder block fish-out house (with restrooms on the outside mind you; like a gas station). I am the only biologist in the office, I dispatch the fish trucks, run the lab (dissections, aging, infections,...), am working on three genetic projects (not all fish), handle a fair share of walk-in customers, keep up with the internet (emails and such), and field an overflow of phone calls. Not to mention my desks are right beside Ken so I am constantly answering questions from him. Then after 9 hours there I drive to my second job as a single mother of an extremely intelligent but wildly active 2 � year old. I only tell you all of this so that you will understand if it takes me awhile to gather the info you requested
Bream 2-3 pounds growing in optimum conditions would be average. We have ponds with GG weighing more, as do many of our customers, but an average would be 2-3 lbs.
I would only add minnows, insects, and pellet feed to an original stock. (more giants if the customer got cookout happy and kept out most of the original stock when caught). Keep in mind management on the customers part is very important (aeration, pond dye, ...) Each pond varies with the needs of the customer.
You are correct that �Bubba�, as someone in an earlier thread so eloquently called him, was not the norm. But couldn�t we make it that way? Would it not be wonderful if we could genetically engineer it so that we were getting 4-5 lb. And larger bream? Not a LMB angler�s dream of course, but what about a bream fisher�s dream? That is part of the �research and development� I have mentioned before. We should never be satisfied. To be so is to be bored.
I recommend the 38% as a summer feed. I don�t want to insult your intelligence by telling you how fish feed (based on temperature). You knew this before I was even born. Therefore our �summer� feed (floating pellet) is a 38% protein 22% fish meal combination that Ken developed especially for the bream. Our �winter� feed is a 45% protein (sinking pellet) that has worked wonderful both in our area and in the North where fish don�t want to come up to the ice th �chat� with you.
As far as the sexual dimorphism you mentioned, I would believe this difference (if exhibited) would only be noticed in adults. John is one of our biologists who works out in the ponds daily. He also worked in tandem with the State of Georgia through the Experiment Station for the last twenty years. I will differ this question to him, and get you a knowledgeable answer.
Your idea of a male only stock (with an abundance of minnows, bugs, and high protein feed) would ideally yield some monster bream. Especially without the bass around to compete for food. This is also a possible theory behind why Bubba grew as large as he did. The customers had stocked the pond twenty years prior with GG, cats and bass. They had well over a decade of very good fishing, then stopped catching fish. They figured they had caught everything out of the pond and were planning on selling the property so they never restocked. Eventually the property sold, and when the new owner started draining the pond he found our little �freak�. Apparently Mr. Bubba had the run of the pond for quite awhile (although he was lonely).
I want to further my degree at some point, and you might have just given me a good idea for a thesis (if you don�t jump the gun on me [it was your idea]).
Anyway, I hope this answered a few of your questions, and as for the others I will get you accurate results as soon as I possibly can.
Thank you again for your acceptance of me into what appears to be a neat �boys� club�
. You all have vast amounts of knowledge from all different views and experiences, and I appreciate the time you are taking to teach me and others.
Sincerely,
Deb
