Once again a reminder...
If I say age-2 it means the fish is in it's third growing season. My big 9+ inchers (age-2) are well over half way through their third growing season. In any region you're lucky if the first growing season (age-0) yields a fish over 4 inches or so.
ML, I know the age of my fish because they have their own pond starting age-1, but most wild fish have to be identified by analysis of scale annuli or otoliths. I believe that the further south you are, the more difficult it becomes to analyze growth by scale samples. I've gotten pretty good at analyzing approximate age of fish by looking at the overall appearance, especially the size of the head and eyes as they relate to the size of the body. Not accurate every time, but a good way to make broad generalizations.
