These are about 12-14 months old. Stocked at about 3-4 inches from Overton. Feed AQMX 600 daily. These are the first fish we have ever taken out to cook (except for removing all GSF we catch). I thought that getting rid of some of these really large males would allow for better spawning next spring. We took out 9 CNBG and 3 GSF (or hybrid BG) all 8 inches or bigger and put back anything smaller. I want to have large forage base for LMB and HSB. A 3.5 lb HSB is in the last photo.

The first one is 10 inches and 1 lb 6 oz. My wife caught this one.


This one is 10 inches and 1 lb 4 oz. Daughter caught this one.


I think this is a 8 inch female


3.5 lb HSB caught by wife. Stocked 1 yr ago at 6 inches.

Great fish Darryl.

When were these fish caught? just in the last few days? The reason I ask is because I didnt know they kept such fantastic color in winter.
They look great, and I would think have to have high RW because they are about to pop. Looks like you have gotten great gains in the last year.

Congrats on some beautiful fish. I dont think I could bring myself to harvest those fish.

Great fish archer.
I do the opposite, by taking out the females and leave the males for trophy class fish.
IMO Overton has some of the best CNBG in the country.

Tubbies!

Beautiful fish. Todd has great genes in his fish.

How many total BG did you stock? bass? what size is the pond?

Nice pics and fish Darryl. I second George with the leave the biggest males in the pond. There are a bunch of good reasons to do that both biological and fishing. I also don't encourage the removal of the largest best conditioned females if you are seeking a lot of LMB forage. The best females produce more eggs than small less well conditioned ones.

Exceptional growth rates on these fish, stocked at the right ratios and managed well. Nice job Archer, thanks for posting the pics.

Archer is south of Houston and benefits from an extended growing season there, hence the colors and growth rates on these fish.

I'll say! That female is really nice, and those males are just plain fat pigs.

We caught a lot of males and females in the 8-9 inch range that we put back. I was working off the theory that I read on Pondboss that the larger males will run off several smaller males from nests even though the larger one has already spawned. We don't seem to catch a lot in the 4-6 inch range. I see a lot of 2-3 inchers in the shallows. We have 60+ LMB (8 inch YOY to 2 lb) and 30+ HSB all greater than 2 lbs. We stocked 10 lbs of Tilapia back in Mar 08. I have seen only 2 floaters this winter. My goal is to have some 5 lb LMB in a few years. I plan on taking out all the small bass we catch this year. We have not removed any LMB or HSB ever.

The pond is 3/4 acres, 6 ft avg depth, 12 ft max. Water temp was 60F when we caught these fish yesterday.