Originally Posted by jpsdad
The answer may be in what you are not seeing. For example, if the LMB are currently lower RW than 30 days ago, what was present then that isn't now? What were they eating, proportionate size wise, that helped them be RW 150s, that isn't available now because they were eaten. One possibility on your BG question may lie in which forage grows faster. For example, if BG grow slower (not saying they do), wouldn't they be more vulnerable to predation? Predation may be the culprit for seeing fewer of them as you suspected above. There are lots of ways to look at things like this but it is always good to flip the coin and examine the other side. In the end, LMB eat what they can and all they can. Its probably a matter of can at the moment. When the TP begin declining due to colder water. This will redefine what can be eaten on the TP side of things. Should be a buffet going on if they stay pretty much the length they are now.

I have ask this before, How much confidence can you put in RW anyway ? It's just a suggestion, Is any RW chart for a LMB under 10" really skewed in the lower weight direction ?
Are there other outlying factors in fish growth in this particular pond ? Newish pond, lower nutrient load ?
Is a 10" - .61# LMB really is a great size with great growth (YES)
What is better for a 12 month old LMB ? 12" - 1.30# ( 144%) or 13.5" - 1.53# ( 117%) , You have all shapes and sizes
Is the forage really there, you just can't see it ? When i eradicated my pond we thought there were very few fish in it, There happened to be over 4000# of fish
I totally disagree with "a LMB will eat what they can and all they can" Every day I observe my LMB and my BG swimming together. The LMB sit there and look at the forage and don't mess with it.
Is there some sort of transition that goes on at 6 months (10") where the fish gains length more than weight ?
I'm only typing this because I am seeing the same REAL WORLD results that Boon is. LMB and SMB had stupid big RW numbers up to a certain size then that number went way down when they hit a certain age and length. Maybe the sample size isn't large enough. Boon is doing a great job and I have learned a lot from his venture