Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Learned something about LMB

I am also a bit confused about the genetics and also about their reports of the growth rates of male LMB as well as the impressive final weights achieved by their relatively young LMB.

It does not match what I have read in many other publications or what the experts on Pond Boss generally observe. Perhaps we all suffer from confirmation bias and just assume the large LMB we observe are females - without ever properly sexing the fish.

It will be fun to watch this hatchery/raising crew for the next few years and see what they can produce for Kansas.

Does the facility you visited allow public tours? If so, which facility?

My kids like to tour these types of facilities, but only if I promise not to embarrass them! I have inadvertently broken my promise more than once.

Kenny,
Great information! I do think genetics play a role, but not nearly as strong a role as a thousand pounds of koi in a hatchery pond. Without food, genetics aren't relevant for the end gain growth into some special sizes. Food plays a huge role. I've watched bass with "great" genetics never reach their purported potential because they didn't have all the other elements of what I call "happy water", great habitat...and plenty of food.

One more question to ask the hatchery guys...when they put those male bass back into the hatchery pond to feed them for next year, and if most of them are similar sizes, what will they look like next year? I'll bet supper there will be a percentage that exhibit rapid growth, different body confirmation, and seriously heavier weights than the rest of the fish...unless they have topped out at that size (which is influenced by genetics). Further, I'll bet there will be another percentage that grew a little bit, even though their relative weights may still be off the charts. And, there will be a percentage that don't grow much at all. If what I'm suggesting is true, I'd like to know how they handle those fish...do they use all of them to breed with the girls, or do they select and pair some of their fish based on size?

Great questions, Kenny! Another factor for those bass larger-than-normal male sizes is they don't expend much energy to feed, or to reproduce. At a hatchery, they want baby fish to be as uniform-sized as possible. To do that, they control their spawns, hatch as many as they can during a finite period and growth them just large enough to stock before they become too cannibalistic.

But, genetic talk aside, there's no way those big boys could grow so large if they didn't have a 24-hr cafeteria open. All they have to do is turn, open their mouth, and suck. Food!

Think it would be worth experimenting with a Koi/LMB pond?

I have read that Koi spawn at roughly 65-70F. That should make them the latest spawning fish in most ponds. Wouldn't that make Koi recruitment very low, since everything else in the pond would be eating the fry?

If you used grow out ponds for raising the Koi, and pushed them out into the LMB main pond while they were optimal eating size, would it be possible for all Koi to be consumed in a 1-year interval so you never reached the problem of very large Koi that are too large for predation?

It sounds like feed > Koi > LMB is more efficient at growing large LMB than just pellet feeding the LMB directly. If so, would utilizing the Koi make it worth the effort and extra man-hours? (Depending upon the goals for your LMB pond.)

Kenny, you hit the nail right on the head about being able to learn from them. There is absolutely no place TO learn that information except hands on learning.

I talked to a hatchery in Mo. that raises catfish. She said that the farm manager left in January and she cannot find anyone to take his place.Not a lot of hatcheries in the area, so the knowledge pool is tiny. She didn't know if she would even open up this year, she said if she can't find someone to hire pretty soon she'd put the hatchery on the market, and if it didn't sell pretty quick, she'd just shut it down.

THAT would be a shame.

Is there any way she could put a "help wanted" ad into Pond Boss forum or magazine?

That is connecting to a pretty diverse network of people with a great interest in raising fish. Even if no PB member is a fit, they might know a person with the skills and desire to take that job.

Maybe. I'll get ahold of Bob and see if he can call her. She sounded really depressed and bummed out about the whole mess.