Originally posted by tom parker:
"The single worst mistake I have made, even worse than stocking pure Florida strain LMB. Three years later and I still have not recovered."
Considering that I just stocked 50 Fl strain LMB in my one acre pond in North Fl, I would sure like Meadowlark to explain the above.
Tom,
As George stated, I've been on higher priority items (here in Houston we have taken in something on the order of 100,000 people from Katrina).
Your question addressed pure strain Florida LMB. My response will do the same. Some of the above responses address F1 LMB, a cross between Florida and native LMB.
Why was Florida strain LMB a mistake for me? It gets down to objectives. I have several objectives for my ponds, including no chemical use, self-sustaining, and low maintenance. As related to fishing, my objectives are very straight forward. I want a high catch rate of a quality predator available to a skilled fly/lure fisherperson. By high catch rate, I mean 10 to 15 predators in a 2 hour session. By quality, I mean a 50% chance of one of those predators being over 5 pounds. Those are my objectives and I have achieved them in three ponds with native LMB. I also must add, that in each of those three ponds, fishing pressure was light.
Now, to the pond with the pure strain Florida LMB. This pond, which is now close to 4 acres, was originally stocked over 4 years ago with pure strain Florida LMB. Unlike my other ponds, it also has heavy artificial feeding of high protein feed. Also, unlike my other ponds, it receives more fishing pressure. Initially, the Florida LMB were very catchable. After 1 year, there was a very marked drop off in catch rates. After 2 years, more drop off and after 3 years, the LMB were virtually uncatchable. A 2 hour session would yield one bass, typically very small. The Floridas are very clearly present. They are very clearly growing substantially. Some to "trophy" size. I observe them several times a week at the feeders attacking BG that are feeding on the pellets. This behavior is beyond question. I have consistently observed it for 4 years, without exception.
My conclusion, which I have stated several times on this Forum, (and has been misquoted) is that Florida strain LMB in small ponds with artificial feeding with fishing pressure, and with catch and release, is problematic. It will not meet my objectives. It is a conclusion based on direct observation for 4 years of Florida LMB.
Will F1 LMB meet my objectives? Will using Tilapia in place of artificial feeding in conjunction with F1 LMB meet my objectives? I have an experiment on-going to answer those questions in special 2 acre pond. The experiment is now approaching one year in duration. The results are very encouraging. I have not fished that pond but do observe it several times a week. The LMB behavior is the most aggressive I have ever observed in my 150 pond years of experience(a pond year is one year of observing one pond at least 50 times over that year). The growth of the F1's appears to be not only good, but great. It will take another year, at least, with fishing pressure, to make any conclusions on this experiment. Fishing pressure will not start until next spring...assuming I can continue to exercise restraint.
Tom, as a person who talks straight and talks only about that which I have personally experienced, I can say to you that if you fish your 1 acre pond regularly, i.e. at least monthly, if you fish with artificials, if you artificially feed , and if you practice catch and release, you will experience marked decreases in catch rate within a year. Within a couple of years you will find large bass very difficult to catch.
Now, back to objectives. If your objectives are to raise trophy bass, the Floridas are demonstrated to have the best growth rates. If you prefer to fish with live bait, the Floridas will probably be ok. If you never fish the pond, except for maybe once or twice a year, the Floridas may be okay. If you want to fish more often, with artificials, and you want to have a high catch rate, you will fail with Floridas in a small pond.
If I have not answered your question, then please ask more questions. I will be happy to answer them. I am not, however, interested in hearing the same tired arguments from the same folks, that I am a bad fisherman, a bad pond manager, and an inexperienced pond manager. There are much more important things going on right now. Thanks for reading my response and for your interest.
