I think this is a good question and I wish I would have seen it. I have no idea. "NOW" what is best to do?
I have gone more towards the Idea, if one is not going to tag fish, then throw back the largest for breeder the first 4 to 5 yrs then they need to hit the grease to make way for the younger crop. I have read CNBG have a life cycle of 5 to 6 years before they start to die.
As I pull out the largest at year 5 or so, I would restock with Jumbo CNBG (My preference Overton Select) and cull the biggest and some smaller (under the stocker size) until I had THE/MY Balance the way I like it.
I would like to prevent/control the gonad development, to foster growth, but it seems to be a difficult issue to monitor and control in my mind.
Last year it it looked like I had 3 spawns and this year I have had 2 for sure already and fish are back on the beds again so I have no idea what is in store other than the bass and CC will have plenty to eat and I had better catch a lot of fish. I told the grand kids they will have a fishy summer, at least. Kinda off subject, but number of spawns a year I would think influence gonad development too?!
