Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Evaluating New Pond and New Fish

I'm not sure what to make of it honestly. It seems odd to me that a larger body of water would have a lower survival rate. I would have guessed that all of them would be similar or the higher.

I did see it interesting that larger bodies of water in the study had higher RW overall.

Unknowingly, I had also sampled some LMB in a very similar timeframe as the link you provided.

They showed 1.8g to 200-276g over ~300 days
I stocked May 31, 2024 and have two fish that we sampled on March 31, 2025 (304 days) that came in at .74 lbs (335g) and .75 lbs (340g)

Not sure what our initial stocked LMB weighed but the numbers were interesting to me. Fish were in the 2-3" range at initial stocking. Also my belief that they were in range of predation of the 4-7" YP that we stocked prior to their arrival. I don't think the few 4-6" BG would have been able to take them on.
According to the PB Fishtracking worksheet:
2" LMB @ 100% RW - Just over .9g
3" LMB @ 100% RW - just over 4g
A couple of things that I wondered about when reading the article were stocking rates.

If the mortality/survival rate is 50% (generically) would I have stocked the same rate?

Have those mortality/survival rates been plugged into pond stocking calculations per acre used by many in determining how much of and what to stock?

It was enough that I went back to review my notes on the pond to see if I could remember how I came to the number (50) LMB. In my notes I had written down the number 200 based off of a YouTube video I had watched where the spokesman said basically male to female ratio would be 50/50 on LMB so if you are looking for a trophy LMB you are tossing out 50% right out of the gate with your purchase as they will be males. Of the remaining 50% perhaps 1-2% would have a chance of greatness, so he liked the number 200 with 1 or 2 of them possibly having a shot at being a trophy. For me that would have been 300 LMB and that number seemed way to high. Perhaps if I had the ability to electrofish, ability to seine, trap, forage pond close by, or more time to spend at the pond I would have taken it. Not disputing the logic, it just didn't fit into what I felt like I could do successfully. If I've learned anything in my time here on the site it's that a shortage of forage will defeat any chance of a trophy fish 100 out of 100 times especially in the young growth stages.

Circled in my notes was the number 50 and wait for spawn underlined beside it. I think what I was telling myself at the time was that I was really just getting the LMB started with a short number. They should be able to grow at a rapid rate and wait for spawn was really allowing the fish to fill in whatever if/any shortage was there. If we missed the 1-2% chance of greatness at the start, there would still be a shot at it when the LMB start to and continue to spawn (when the real work begins) over the coming years. If we got lucky and one of ~25 females was part of the 1-2% club fantastic.

That said. I had a call from the fish farm this afternoon confirming the fall forage bump. Tomorrow is delivery date for 50lbs of 3-4" Golden Shiners and 600 3-4" BG. Combine that with efforts we are making for additional crays and the LMB, however many there are left from survival/mortality, should be in great shape to feast from now through winter until we start over again next spring.