Am I chasing a ghost? Is in unreasonable to have 10+ pound Florida bass in a 10 acre pond?
I have an east Texas pond of 7 acres with a mix of (mostly) Florida LMB and some Northern LMB. Lake record LMB is 7 lb, but larger fish have been seen. HSB have grown even larger, lake record is a 12 caught this May. Last electrosurvey spotted a 10 plus LMB, but couldn't get it into net before it recuperated & swam off. So based on my experience, multiple 9 plus fish means you're doing great! This is particularly true of Florida LMB, which are harder to tempt than Northern strain.
Re harvest, I recall Bob Lusk talking with a top bass pro who complained about the lack of 10 plus fish in his pond. Like you, he allowed harvest of fish up to 18 inches. Bob listened to his woes, then said, "If you harvest a 4 lb bass, it will never grow to 10 lb."
PS What do your friends use to catch the larger LMB? Plastic worms, live bait, spinnerbaits?
