In two years it put on a little more than 2 lbs; a little over 1 lb per yr - right at optimum growth for a big bass eating about 10 lbs of forage each yr. It is has been feeding really good. What big forage items are in the pond for a fish this size???.
It is too bad you didn't measure the width across its mouth - the gape. It would be REALLY good to have the gape measurement for a fish this big.
a picture is worth a thousand words.
about 2 years ago, i made a decision that has really made all the difference in the world in the pond. well, it was really more out of necessity than choice. i changed jobs and no longer had time to micromanage the pond. so i decided to stock shiner minnows on a regular basis. my goal was twofold - (1) take the heat off the bluegill population which was being decimated by smaller bass that somehow escaped harvest and (2) provide a viable forage source for the bluegill which would help them more quickly reach a size at which only big bass could prey on them. as a fringe benefit (which i will readily admit that i did not fully anticipate) i now have a healthy population of jumbo-sized gills in the pond. win-win!
