Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Why don't I have bass over 5-7 pounds?

I have a 12 acre lake that has a good ratio of bass sizes. My fish seem to all be very healthy with plenty to eat. I can regularly catch 3-5 pound fish and occasionally catch a 6-7. I know it would help to introduce Floridas, but I hear of people catching 10-12 pound native Texas bass around here. My lake has been here for 80+years, so they have had plenty of time to get big! I don't want to sound like I am complaining about catching 7 pound bass, but I am curious to know why I am not catching bigger fish? Any ideas?

Can you give us any info on the condition of the various sizes of LMB and forage? Have you tried fishing with live bait ? You do realize that very large LMB are hard to catch (they didn't get big and old by being dumb).

In addition to what EWEST said -- what are you doing to generate lots of forage in your lake so the bass have lots of food to help them grow? What kind of forage fish do you have in the lake? Do you have a feeding program to keep the forage in good shape for the bass? Do you have a good culling program to keep too many large mouths from feeding on limited resources?

Give us a little more info about your management techniques, or the lack of techniques, and we can help you tailor your efforts into growing some decent size bass.

Ken

There is a good balance of different sizes of bass. There is also a good forage base of red ear and coppernose bluegill. The bass seem to be very healthy at all sizes. I caught a 22" bass today that was a little over 6 pounds. I don't catch fish that seem to be under weight for there size. I have recently introduced a feeding program for the blugill, but my concern is that the bass have really had a good supply of forage fish to get as big as they should. I have also started a fertilization program to potentially help the problem as well. I am not sure if this will help, because as I stated above I really think that the supply of food and bass numbers is not the issue. Are there genetics that can hinder them from getting any larger? Is a 10-12 pound "native Texas" bass realistic if the environment is good enough? Is there a real chance that my lake has 10-12 pound bass and I have just not caught one? I have not used live bluegill as bait, but I have fished with every artificial bait out there.

A 10 pound northern strain bass in TX is reasonable if the right conditions are present... I would say yes, there is a high likelihood, you have at least a few double digit bass in your pond so smart they are near impossible to catch. Try a live BG in the 4"-5" range on a 2/0 circle hook with no weight and live line it... You may shock yourself at what you catch...

I would look into stocking threadfin shad next spring if growing big bass is your goal... Consider an electroshock survey, which will tell a more accurate story. Hard to grow double digit bass without at least 1 species of shad present. If 25% of your bass are over 16", consider the risks which there are plenty... But, you can also consider gizzard shad. I would try the threadfins first though.

Check out this video.

http://www.pondboss.com/videos.asp

scroll to the bottom and watch Facts and Myths About Bass.
It's a longer video but Bob talks about 10pd bass. Well worth the full video. Bob does know a few things about Bass in case you are wondering.

One part of the equasion is the right sized forage, and genetics play a part as well. I fished a pond this Spring East of Dallas, and while I didn't catch any whoppers, another person fishing the pond at the same time did catch one that was 10 1/4#. This pond has very good genetics (lots of fish from the Texas "Share a Lunker" program), large CNBG, Threadfin shad, and visibility between 12" and 24" on average due to a bloom going and minimal fishing pressure. In fact, when I was there right after the PB conference, it was the 2nd time this year that it was fished. The pond is normally a barbless hook, fly fishing only pond, but the wind was howling and the other 2 guys weren't that well versed in fly fishing. The owner said bait casting was O.K. that day. It also helps that the pond is 35 acres..... I caught a 12" CNBG later on that day on a 2" swim bait, and many CNBG in the 10" range. He doesn't feed the LMB, but he does feed the BG.

Guys,
In 32 years, I've never seen a "native" strain largemouth bass larger than 7 pounds. Ever.
In my professional opinion, there's no reasonable chance of growing a double-digit bass without Florida genetics.
For example, the ShareLunker program was mentioned in Scott's post above. Of the 500+ giant fish donated to that program over the years, every one of them has Florida genetics of some sort. 51% were pure strain Florida bass and the rest are some Fx cross.
Comparatively, the lakes where these fish are caught typically have less than 5% pure strain Floridas in the populations as a whole.
By the way, the ShareLunker program takes bass 13+ pounds.

BassGuy, if you are catching 6-7 lb Texas native strain Largemouth bass from your 12 acre lake you are doing great. Prior to stocking pure Florida LMB some thirty years ago the state record was in the 8 lb range. You say your lake is some 80 years old, how long have you fished it and what is its history and location?

If CNBG are present there is a possibility that someone has stocked some Florida LMB as well, and the above management comments are valid.

Scott’s (esshup) comments are on the money – pure Florida genetics is the answer, along with the management practices mentioned above. The source he mentioned for Florida genetics is not available to the general public however – “This pond has very good genetics (lots of fish from the Texas "Share a Lunker" program”.

The only source for certified pure Florida LMB in our area that I am familiar with is Overton Fisheries in Buffalo and Tyler Fish Farm.

Good luck and good fishin’!

ps: Sorry Bob, we must have been typing at the same time ...

Lake Murval, far East Texas near Carthage, was producing large numbers of 7# plus bass in the 60's.

I took a dozen up to 10# in the late 60's.

Wasn't this before Kemp's experiment and the introduction of the FS largemouths in our ETex lakes?

Murval... Not Murvall.

I'll find out.
But, in my experience making a living as a fisheries guy managing private waters for 30+ years, the only double digit fish I've seen have Florida genetics.