While on size, culling, RW, etc
I came upon a situation this evening
As most know, my pond was stocked fresh 9/14/23
So these 2 fish would have been stocked from the same place as the same size on the same date
Fish 1. 17” - 2.91# - 107% RW. Looked healthy but long and lean (I’m assuming male) was caught under the fish feeder.
Fish 2. 15.75” - 2.71# - 127% Did not have a huge belly, was just bulky. Was caught in more open water
What would you do?
Let both live to see another day or Cull fish 1 or Cull both ?
The average of all fish caught (27) between November 1 and today is 16.5” - 3.0#
A couple of things:
Your LMB population is modest in number due to an initial stocking of 20/acre. (with the exception of recruits that you have mentioned culling). There are some morts from the initial stocking (+ 6 culls) and so at this point, I do not think you have too many LMB of the initial stocking. On the other hand, you've mentioned other predators to include HSB, CC, and SMB. These may be where you should focus culling this year to help the LMB grow.
With regard to the two fish. I would be reluctant to classify Fish 1 a male. It is longer than the mean length of your samples and stands a good chance of being female. Personally, I would want to be sure the LMB culls are male and I would be reluctant to remove LMB longer than mean length and which are heavier in favor of keeping higher RW LMB of inferior weight and length (within the same year class). As for the difference in the RWs ... it may make sense from this standpoint. The existing consumable forage population may be sufficient to provide consumption to support ~3# LMB. IOWs, their number may support the number of encounter/pursuits required for consumption what would support ~3# LMB. If so, the RW reflects the pond conditions in this moment which might favor the smaller LMB in terms of RW. One should keep in mind that both the 15.75" and 17" LMB only have one mouth each and they can only be in one place at one time. Their encounters with prey are likely very similar. If the number of encounters are limiting consumption below satiation the smaller fish will likely have better RW.
