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#131152 09/02/08 07:55 AM
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I've been feeding Aquamax Largemouth since last fall. Here's one of my bass I caught last night.





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OK Ryan,dont keep us in suspence.It looks in great shape,but how big and what did it wiegh?Did you feed train em and if so,how long did it take.We are eagerly awaiting more details


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I finally remembered to take the camera out to the pond but forgot the tape measure. The fish was only about 15" but seemed fat and healthy. They were on feed from the hatchery. They'd been on Purina Gamefish Chow up and doing OK but they've really fattened up on the ALM.




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Looks nice and healthy Ryan.


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I bought two AquaPro 75 feeders this spring. I've been fairly aggressive on the AquaMax 600, and fortunately the LMB have been hammering the stuff. Here is a photo of my boy with a bass in May. The second photo is August. These fish were stocked in Sept 2006. Needless to say, I've been very impressed with the AquaMax results.

-Scott








Last edited by Scott Krehbiel; 09/14/08 10:01 PM.
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Uhhhh, yeah....

I'd say there's a slight difference.


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Bruce- have you had results with the AquaMax 400 on Bluegill? I've been throwing the stuff at them but they seem more interested in the 600 even though it's bigger and they can barely eat it. It's amazing, they are in fighting with the Bass and Cats for the stuff. I'd like to grow them very big as well.

-Scott

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Actually, my bluegill's favorite is the Aquamax Grower 500. They like the 400, but they spend a lot of time for the nutrition that they're getting. They love the 600 too, but any bluegill under 7.5 inches seem to be left out. I think the ideal may be a mixture of 500 and 600, with some hand feeding of 400 in the areas where the little guys hang out.


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Dang Scott you ought to sent those photos to Aquamax as before and after photos. In the first photo neither the fish nor the boy look happy. In the second photo both the fish and the boy look happy. I guess the moral of the story is fat bass make people happy.


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Yes, I was amazed when I compared the two photos. Thanks for the insight, Bruce. I will get some of the 500 and start mixing the 400/500/600.

Scott

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Ryan, This may have been covered in another post but I still need to ask.

Did you buy feed trained LMB or did you just start feeding standard LMB? If you just fed your standard LMB could you describe how you got them to start taking feed? Do you have any other fish in the pond that eat the LMB feed (I ask because I'm pretty sure the CC in my pond would be all over the LMB feed)? Any advice, observations, etc... would be helpfull.



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Brett- I'm not sure what Ryan did, but I purchased normal LMB, not the pellet trained. Not sure if this is helpful, but this is what has transpired on our pond. LMB were stocked in the fall of 2006. The next summer we started buying cheap dog food and throwing out hand fulls for fun. I think the the cats were the only ones eating the stuff, but can't be 100% certain. This spring we bought two AquaPro75 feeders and started feeding them AquaMax600. Additionally, the person building our cabin has been throwing in two buckets (two in the AM, two in the PM) of food. The cabin has both sides surrounded by 20' strips of gravel, so lots of LMB and BG hang out in this area. What I've noticed is in the beginning an occasional bass would come up and hit the stuff, but still it was mostly cats. Then after a month or so, the bass would be the first to hit the food (they pretty much hit it in less than 10 seconds after hitting the surface). After about 30 seconds, the cats would come in and push the bass out.

Of the two buckets we throw out, one bucket consists of the cheaper Purina Catfish food. This bucket we throw as far out as we can to get the cats started feeding first. Next, we throw in the AquaMax600 close to the cabin in smaller amounts (maybe split into thirds). This way it doesn't sit on the surface that long and the LMB can gobble it up quickly.

We've done this all spring and summer. Last week I noticed that now if you throw in two full buckets of AquaMax, the bass and cats are hitting the stuff and the bass no longer let let the cats push them out. In fact, it's mostly bass now that are feeding off the cabin.

We tried to have a catfish fry last weekend and caught 10+ bass before we caught a single cat! We were using the AquaMax pellets for bait. Probably need to switch to liver......

The reason we got the feeders was that I purchased 225 HSB this spring and wanted to get them feeding off the fish feeders. I had no idea the LMB would take to it. Ironically, I've yet to see a single HSB.

Scott

Last edited by Scott Krehbiel; 09/16/08 09:50 AM.
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Thanks Scott, I guess it's worth a try. I just might have to buy a bag of LMB feed next spring. I already feed GFC to the BG and CC. I have a few LMB that come around while I'm feeding but they arent interested in the small pellets; I think they are picking off small BG that are feeding on the GFC.



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Brett, I bought my LMB from a fish farm nearby. They had the bass in a big tank made from a grain bin ring with a liner. I'd guess that they were feeding them pellets. I started feeding high protein trout pellets the first two years then switched to GFC the next two. I would occasionally see LMB taking pellets but they seem to like the Aquamax largemouth much better as do the channel cats and hybrid stripers.

Below isn't a great representation since it was two different times of year and photo's aren't great but there is definitely a lot more meat on them now.

For comparison:

Before, May of 2007


After, September 2008





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Is feeding necessary to achieve the above described improvemnet in the LMB population?
I ask this because I would rather not have to feed(expense,etc). BUT, would if it's the only practical way to achieve "good" growth. Or can these fish improve in condition solely by providing a "natural" forage-based food chain, assuming it might take longer?

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David,
You can achieve that naturally, but it will take much longer and you will want to take out as many bass as you possibly can. Probably only will want about 50 per acre or less!


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David, I could make a good case that feeding is cheaper than growing forage. If you google "Bob Lusk Feeding" you can find a lot of articles about feeding the forage and some about feeding the bass directly. It's not 100% necessary to feed to have a successful fishery but it sure helps.




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Thanks n8ly & Ryan. I guess to continue the question, it seems to me that there's a progression of management issues that ultimately leads to a serious amount of money investment to achieve certain goals. What I mean is; if you feed for growth(Couple of feeders$600.00 + feed), then there is this nutrient overload/too many pounds of fish for pond size. The solution then seems to be aeration($4000-5000) for sizable pond. Even with all this if one is pushing the red-line, then a DO crash is a real possibility( I get this from reading Pond Boss threads)..See, I don't really know any of this from experience because I am just now getting to the spot where real numbers of fish are going into my pond next spring. But I am trying to sort it out & make good decisions. I just want to be able to catch some 3-5 lb bass & some bream in a couple of years...du


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David, I'll leave the technical discussion for the experts, but when reading Pond Boss posts you have to keep in mind that many pond meisters here are striving for an optimal (or even above optimal) condition in their pond. Whether it be very high density numbers, or very large BG or large bass. For lack of a better phrase, they are pushing the boundary of their pond beyond what would probably occur in nature. That is very possible and a very healthy pond can be achieved but it will require a significant amount of management intervention including feeding, possibly aeration, definitely selective culling, etc, etc.

You can achieve your goal of being able to catch 3-5 pound bass and some bream without feeding and probably without any aeration. Many here have done that. Managing your fish population through tracking relative weight and fish population counts (using just fishing pole sampling) can work. At the conference this year Bob Lusk told me that probably the best management tool is to keep records of what you catch (relative weights and numbers of fish) and then adjust your culling strategy accordingly.

Many of us here don't feed (other than introducing some forage base) and don't aerate and have ponds that are very fun to fish. It may take longer to get larger bass and your pond may not have as high as a carrying capacity as one that receives active management but that does not mean that you cannot have a great pond without feeding. Please note that I am not in any way criticizing anyone that uses feeding or aeration or highly active pond management.

When reading this site you have to keep in mind that ultimately you need to use a pond management strategy that fits your budget and your time availability. Does that make any sense?


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Very well put, Senhor Hasapond.


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I will offer some experience from my 1/2 acre. The fish farms were recommending I stock 50 LMB. I stocked 25 LMB a year after stocking BG and FH minnows based on what I read here that a pond will support 100lbs per acre, 50lbs in my case or 25 2LBers. I knew I would have to remove some eventually to grow them larger and feed to help push them along. Probably the biggest mistake I've made is simply not being proactive enough in removing fish and instead reacted to problems once I saw effects. Fish only live so long and grow for that limited time so by waiting until I saw they were getting thin I've limited their potential.




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It wasn't my intention to be in any way critical of feeding fish. One only has to look at your before and after photos Ryan to see that your management strategy is working wonders. The intention of my post was merely to point out that you can achieve a very fishing friendly pond without feeding. Many of us here don't have the resources (whether it be time or money) to commit to feeding their fish and accordingly have to resort to more "conventional" forms of pond management.


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JHAP, thanks for the response. Yes it makes sense. I too know, from reading here, that really awesome fish can be raised by the guys who are willing to put out the effort, time, money etc to do so & I applaude them for that(a little jealous too) I'm just glad to hear those of us with less ambition can have a "reasonable" fishing hole.


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JHAP, I didn't even know you and Theo had posted. It took me over an our to write and send what I posted. I had started orginally with the same thoughts as you (just not stated nearly as well) but switched gears because I really have no practical experience to offer with an unfed pond....and work kept interupting \:D

I respect anyone willing to ask questions and share what they've learned no matter their methods or goals. Managing 2.5 acres is no doubt very different than mananging 1/2 acre. If my pond was 5 times the size it is, I would be seeking alternative methods too as opposed to supplementally feeding at the rate I am currently.

I was trying to stress that even by stocking bass at half the rate recommended by the fish farms and starting with a great forage base, it didn't take very long (3 years actually) for the LMB overeat their food source.




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There are many paths to pond enlightenment.


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