Stunting is a product of not enough food to eat. The only time I have encountered stunting that was not the result of insufficient food (i.e. genetics) is where the stocker fish came from a lake that had many generations of stunted fish so the offspring were adapted/genetics toward small size. That is rare IMO.

On the OP's question - my suggestion is get 10-12 inch good quality LMB from a known source and stock them this fall. They will reproduce next spring. If the current fish have been in the pond for 10 yrs or less you likely don't have genetic problems. What makes you believe that genetics are the issue?

Last edited by ewest; 07/15/25 11:08 AM.