Just a quick end of season update:
Within the past week, I've moved the BG and YP to new cages in preparation for the coming winter season. By "new" cages I mean algae free/clean cages. In doing so, its the first time I've sampled the fish to check their growth. To date, both species of fish have been caged for 4 months and two weeks.
BG: Initial stocking was 43, not the 30 I thought. To date, I've lost 8. Of the 35 that remain, the average runs 5-6". Its interesting to note that some are not that much bigger than the day they went into the cages while on the other side of the scale, a couple are just short of 7". With surface water temps at 52 degrees, no longer do I see any near the surface, waiting for feed.
YP: Initial stocking was 39, again not the 30 I thought. To date, I've had only one go belly up. Like the BG, their sizes vary. Average is 6-7", with one topping the 8" mark.
I plan to continue feeding worm chunks on occasion till ice covers the pond. The cages will not be pulled again till next spring, which won't come soon enough.
Switching to the pond itself, I'm especially happy to report that last weekend I landed three very nice BG. 1 measured in at 9" with the other two hitting the 9 1/2" mark! Needless to say it was a double Depends moment for me. I apologize in that I do not have pictures of these fish but my sister was gracious enough to assist me during the cage swap and took a few snapshots that I will try to post.
Russ
Big Blue 1
Big Blue 2
Big Blue 3
Growout cage BG
Growout cage YP
