Clint,
Assuming that you already have 50 LMB/acre averaging 1 lb, the addition to feeding your BG would allow them to gain on average 22.5%. An increase of ~0.25 lb may not provide that RW. Essentially you are increasing the carry to 62 pounds. What you want to do is also remove say 20/acre of those LMB where they can average 2 lbs. Lowering the standing weight to 30 lbs/acre, allows them to grow more than 22.5%. To have really fat LMB requires consumption that leads to near maximum growth. They consume faster than they can grow in length ... so to speak ... so they get fat. Here I am assuming normal production of consumable prey ... see next.
I will add that an initial stocking, especially with a forage head start, can build a bank of slow growing forage. The bank is built because there was little consumption of YOY by predators in the initial year. The numbers are really high in the small sizes that growing LMB need. So the result of that is that there can be abnormally high numbers of consumable prey for 3 to 4 years. That is what one is trying to do, however, when the bank is depleted, the pond will revert to the production of consumable prey that is normal. Your challenge will be hone the population to be in balance with the production of consumable prey that is normal after the bank is depleted.
If you want a sustainable pond, one that continues to grow individual fish at good rates of growth to trophy size, you will have to maintain a stable population of LMB that recruits into the adult class size equal to the mortality of adults. Consider also this, What do you want the fish to average in weight? To grow trophies ... this average needs to be in the neighborhood of 4 lbs. So with 62 lbs of carry this is 15 or 16 fish. There just cannot be a lot of fish less than 15" in the pond if you want a lot of big LMB. Since budget is important to you, I would focus on managing the population so as to balance trophy growth with the pond's natural productivity. If you are successful, then anything you feed will MAINTAIN a little additional weight on them. At 1000 lbs per year, that will be around 90 lbs/acre. So the pond will maintain that extra 90 lbs at a cost of $17 per lbs. Assuming 15 LMB/acre, that is on average 3/4 lb per fish. You may not notice this difference even though it would be there. Either pond(8 acre pond with OR without feed) would feel and fish like a great pond. Assuming that the numbers of LMB in both are the same, the only difference would be their average weight and probably also the greatest weights achieved. You shouldn't expect either to increase by much more than 3/4 lb when feeding at 125 lbs/acre/year.
Last edited by jpsdad; 02/25/24 07:30 PM.
