Anthro - how old are your bass in the pond? More that 5yrs? Topping out at 7lb in a 7 acre pond highly suggests that that 6-7 lb individuals are hitting a food and competition growth wall. This is likely due to still too many bass eating the limited food base or to a lesser possibility the right abundance and sizes of food are not there or present at high enough density for those top end 7lb bass.
In East TX those bass if well fed should be growing at least 1 lb per year and better fed individuals could be growing 1.2-2 lb per year. What are the electro harvest analyses saying for number of LMB catch per hour? Electro survey should be capturing numerous smaller LMB per hour of effort (CPUE). IMO I would do two things: increase the number of feeders to 1 /ac or 1.5feeder per ac. How fast do the pellets get consumed.??
Having to add BG or other forage to keep LMB well fed is a big sign there are WAY too many 'foxes in the chicken house'. In a balanced community the forage should be able to keep up or maintain good numbers without having to add forages.
Thanks for post, Bill. I stocked FLMB in 2016, but they stunted due to lack of FHM (long story, short bass). Stocked Northern LMB in 2017 along with golden shiners, they likely ate most small Floridas. Started adding tilapia & rainbow trout in 2018/19, stocked F1 LMB in 2020.
Assuming few of the stunted original Floridas made it, that means my largest bass are likely the northern strain 2017 stockers. Thus, 7 lb probably about max size for them in a reasonably good environment. F1s were only two years old last year (2022), so unlikely any exceeded 5 lb. This year the best F1s might hit 6, I guess, maybe 7.
Best hope for a 10 plus is a cross between one of few remaining pure Floridas and the Northern strain in 2017. Maybe there's one or two, though for sure not a lot. All I can do is keep feeding, both pellets and prey!
