See this excellent thread on California LMB records and whys. Also has good info on cool water LMB growth from Tenn.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=22660&page=1


Here is some direct data from one of the Calif. lakes in question. In the same lake under the same conditions Fla. and Northerns. There are also some interesting text points I will try to scan tomorrow. Here is a chart. The chart is of age , length and weight.

Nort. ------------------ Fla.

1 6.07 .20 ----------1 5.92 .15
2 11.62 1.10 --------2 12.75 1.50
3 14.73 2.15 --------3 15.69 2.84
4 16.37 2.91 --------4 17.65 4.15
5 17.94 3.80 --------5 20.39 6.44
6 19.11 4.57 --------6 22.05 8.32
7 20.28 5.39 --------7 23.08 9.61
8 20.35 5.53 --------8 23.36 10.05
9 none none --------9 24.80 12.15
10 none none -------10 25.63 13.32

A couple of their points - Flas live longer that is why no data on 9+ yr. Nort. - Waters rarely drops to 50 and thus a year long growth season - while shad are a forage RT were necessary to get to very large size - RT stocked in coldwater mths at 9-11 inches no fear and fat are easy pickings for large LMB - big LMB do not go deep after shad ( + 30 ft.) in winter but stay up ( less than 25 ft.) and eat RT and craws.

I have another study from Tenn. on topic that ties together the fattening up process Bruce ask about. From the 2 it appears on first examination that LMB really fatten up in fall 55-65 temps because they keep eating but metab. (food use) slows thus fats added . It also shows that LMB keep eating below 50 but at much reduced rate. More to come. \:\)

Last edited by ewest; 02/09/17 03:46 PM.