Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
IMO you will not produce or maintain trophy SMB if you maintain 100 older or original smb per acre unless you maintain a pellet feeding program for them (Aquamax largemouth). Too many predators in this stocking combination and not enough forage fish. I consider trophy pond raised SMB to be 17"+ - 20". Others will definately have opinions and opinions are welcome.


Bill knows SMB better than anyone, Smallies. I love your passion for these specific species of fish, and share them, but you will need a forage fish and I'd recommend bumping up those RES numbers significantly also. Dave Willis, Bill Cody, and Mark Cornwall have suggested a perfect forage fish for SMB are GSH. The adults are large enough to escape predation due to the limited gape of the SMB and YP, and should continue to spawn and enable one to establish and sustain a GSH population. How cool is that?

Also, you should definitely consider 50-75 HSB for fun. They will forage primarily on pellets, grow super fast, don't pose a reproduction risk, taste great, and are arguably the most exciting fresh water fish to catch.

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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