first, i gotta say wow! what a nice bunch of folks. i sincerely appreciate the warm welcome and nice words. i am humbled by your kindness.
second, i apologize that it has taken so long to get back with y'all. my days are usually pretty full, so most of my posting will probably be at night.
where to begin? i suppose the best way to answer all these questions is just to tell my story and we'll go from there. i'll try to keep from writing a novel.
i have loved bass fishing since i was old enough to walk down to the water. but it was 2003 when i became serious about trophy bass. after i caught my first double digit fish back in 2004, i was hopelessly addicted. i was fortunate enough to be fishing a 130+ acre watershed lake that was abundant with big fish. i was blessed with success beyond anything i had ever imagined in this watery paradise. several fish over 10. two teeners. one of those only missing the state record by 6 oz. and i lost track of all the 7, 8, and 9 pound fish. all of the double digit fish in my sig line, with the exception of the beautiful 11-10 (more on her in a minute) were caught here. and this is tn mind you, not florida, tx, or cali. needless to say, i was spoiled. that's when the wheels began to turn in my mind. you see, as good as the fishing was in that honey hole, there was no management going on at all. it was just one of those magical places that everything clicked. in short, that place was phenomenal BY ACCIDENT! if this could be acheived through happenstance, then what could be done if a man was DELIBERATELY trying to grow big fish? well, i set out to find out just that.
being a poor boy, i had no means to buy or build my own pond. but i did have permission to fish several ponds. one of these was about 2-3 acres. the good news was that this pond had decent depth, good vegetation, and beautiful clean, clear water thanks to it's mussel inhabitation. the bad news was that the fish were a mess. every one of them small, skinny, stunted and malnourished. the same fish had been in there for years and years. the gene pool was stagnant though years of inbreeding (although the fish were so small i doubt there was much breeding going on at all). forage was minimal. overpopulation was an understatement. while this was a good place to go catch a mess of fish for the fry daddy, big fish were non-existent and had been for quite a while. i approached the landowners to see if they'd be willing to let me try my hand at mananging their pond for big fish. they agreed and thus began my journey. the first thing i did was remove every small fish i could. the next thing i did was catch a few 2-4 pound bass from several other locales and put them in the pond to try to breathe some new life into the population through gentic diversity. now these were just regular old "mutt bass" mind you, but they came from different places to maximize diversity. and to this day, there are no bass with a fancy genetic pedigree in the pond. like i said, just regular old northern strain.
with the pond stocked at what i thought were appropriate levels, i then set out on a program of "old school" management through selective harvest (keeping anything i caught that was under 2 pounds) and stocking the pond with plentiful forage (bluegill). i was fortunate that i did not have to buy these. i had access to another pond that was absolutely overflowing with 3-5" gills, so i was able to catch them myself. and believe me, i put load after load of those little suckers in there. when i was absolutely sure i'd put in enough, i put in twice as much. a couple of years in, i started seeing the fruits of my labor. 6 pounders became regular. but it was not all rosey. the fish just weren't growing fast enough to suit me. i would still catch skinny fish from time to time despite selective harvest and continual stocking of bluegill. things seemed to be taking too long for the fish to grow. i was impatient. one fish in particular convinced me that i needed to do some tweaking, a long skinny 7.5 pounder that should have weighed at least 9. more on her in a minute.
that's when i decided that i was not going to be satisfied with a good pond. i wanted a great one. so i embarked on a program of "new school" management implementing some of my own ideas and tactics. i did things that went against the grain of conventional wisdom. and that's when things really took off. and that's where i am today.
looking at the sig link, you will see the 2 crown jewels of my attempts at management, the 11-10 and the 9-12. the 11-10 is mostly a product of my "old school" days. she has now gone on to the great honey hole in the sky, dying of what i'm convinced was just old age last year. while i am proud of that fish, i have a lot of regrets. if i had only known then what i know now, i have no doubt that could have been a new state record, or at least a teen fish. she had all the potential in the world. the 9-12, while smaller, excites me even more. you see, she was the skinny 7.5 pounder that should have weighed 9 that i spoke of earlier. that picture was taken back in the fall, with her over 2 pounds heavier than she had been in the spring at 7.5. i am proud to announce that i caught her again yesterday and she is now a double digit bass. and if she stays healthy, i project her to be 11 pounds or more before the end of this year. but sadly, i think she is pretty old. unfortunately, i believe i am working against the clock with her. i'll keep y'all posted.
as proud as i am of some of the big fish i've raised, i'm even prouder of a 3 pounder my daughter caught a few days ago. it's in the pic below. i'm seeing a lot of these showing up now. fish with blazing growth rates. look at the tiny fins and tail on this fish. look how fat and thick.
this fish's body is growing at such a rate that its fins and tail cannot catch up! i truly believe this fish is only 2 years old and that little chunk has to weigh at least 3 pounds. doing the math on this one, and projecting future weights almost puts me in a state of euphoria. sure hope it's a female. and that is what
a lot of the fish in this lake are looking like now. i'd give that one an 8 on a scale of 1-10. while there are not many of them, the 9's and 10's truly have to be seen to be believed.
so hopefully i'm on the right track. i'll try to set up a photobucket album entitled "project fish" to give y'all a look at some of the amazing results i am getting. in time, i might share some details of my program. but for now, i am here to learn myself, as i think i can do better than what i am currently. so for now, enjoy this little freak of a very young, very fat little bass held by my daughter. and we'll keep our fingers crossed that we're all on the right track with our managament programs. and thanks again for the very warm welcome.
