Expanding and helping to clarify on what esshup and jpsdad say above.
Esshup (personal communication) says “2.5 – 3.5” LMB were hatched end of Feb and he stocked them into a new pond at end of May as 90 day old fish feed trained and growing 1mm/day (90mm/25.4mm=3.5").
jpsdad says "When these slower growing siblings as 3”-4” in June 01 were placed into a pond where they could eat all they would/could (low LMB density with abundant forage) their growth as esshup says of 2lb by late September was just outstanding to say the least."
Apparently the larger 3.5” ones grew to 2 lb by late September. Normally not all fish stocked will grow a the same rate. Usually some the larger individuals of a stocking will grow faster that its shorter siblings. I estimate a very fat 2 lb LMB would be around a RW of 140 meaning the bass was close to
13.5"-13.75" by end of Sept. End of Sept puts the bass as a total of 210 days old and 343mm long (13.5") at 2lb. If the growth is calculated from end of May or June 01 to end of Sept 30 as 120days and growth was from 3.5" to 13.5" (10" as 254mm) then after stocking the bass grew 2.1mm/day. 254mm/120days = 2.1mm/day. OUTSTANDING growth as noted by jpsdad. This shows the importance of locating and buying well fed fingerlings and placing them into a pond full of the right sizes of forage fish for them as they increase in size. It is possible when done the best way as promoted here on the Pond Boss Forum.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 09/16/24 07:58 PM.
