As I mentioned in my introduction, we have a 3 acre pond in southern Mississippi that was stocked with forage in April 2024 and F1-Tiger bass in October 2024.
My question is this: what's a reasonable time table for me catching some of the new bass(rod and reel) to sample their relative weights? They were 3-4 inches long back in October when initially stocked.
Appreciate the feedback in advance for those who've already been there and done this.
Welcome ML10! It's really hard to hold back on checking on the new fish. I found myself with this challenge last year with spring LMB stocking as I'm sure many new pond and fish owners do. Your growing season is different than mine was for sure but I can tell you the early growth rates are nothing short of amazing is you have a good to great forage base in the pond.
My results from last year were stocking on 5.31.24 @ 2-3" LMB to 10.24.24 @ 10.75".
As I mentioned your growing season is longer than mine for sure. Jason D had some posts for his fish with Oct-ish stocking similar to yours and I think he was catching 2lb bass right around the 1yr mark. He's a little South of me but North of you.
Forage and growing season are definately the keys on growth rates. I don't know how much you stocked in the way of forage or what you stocked on LMB F1.
1.5acre LMB, YP, BG, RES, GSH, Seasonal Tilapia I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
What forage was stocked and how much? I’m assuming Mississippi has a much longer growing season than we have in Kansas. We stocked 20# per acre of FHM in May ‘23, September 14th ‘23 we stocked our other forage along with F1’s April ‘24 I noticed a school of baby fish up in the shallow, threw out a little roostertail and caught 7 fish in 7 casts. Baby F1’s. September 18 ‘24 I caught a 14.75” 2.23# F1 This should give you a general timeline. Granted there are many factors that go in to growing fish, Water quality, enough of the right size forage , etc Unfortunately I didn’t even think about getting weights and measures until last summer and I have no idea how typical these results are. Your fish will vary in size and weight A LOT. Don’t be concerned when you catch an under performer Have fun, be patient, don’t over think it Photos are initial stocking, first fish and 1 year old
Sounds like it may be time to fish a little since we're at the 5 month mark. As mentioned, the bass were 3-4 inches long in October. Mississippi winters are very mild with less than 2 weeks of below freezing temperatures.
I'm really happy with our bluegill population. We've got piranhas at the feeder with lots of different sizes and the fathead minnows are no more....
Just assuming they could eat all they wanted ... their growth through 3/1/25 may surprise you. Assuming a climate similar to Tylertown, MS ... I would be expecting samples currently in the neighborhood of 9"-9.25" inches in length right now. This assumes they had appropriate sizes of forage available from 10/1/24 through today and consumed at will. When they were 3.5" AVG matters. 30 days is long time that is packed with a lot of growth in the first few months of a fingerling after stocking. If they were averaging 3.5 inches on Oct 30, for example, I would expect average lengths in the neighborhood of 8" right now. If they are getting all they care to eat, they should average in excess of 2 lbs 1 year from when they were 3.5 inches long. Look forward to seeing your upcoming reports.
As Jason said, expect variation, some exceed the average while others don't.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
Here is some information from the LM Bass thread in the PBoss Archives about creating hook smart bass by fishing for them too long and too frequently. Largemouth Catchability - Hook Smart - Hook Shy Fish behavior patterns do exist and IMO their behavior is fairly complex. They respond to external stimuli. But can they learn from past experience or from watching other bass/fish? Many think this is true.
Bass and other fish IMO and experience do have the ability to learn from their experiences and a percentage of every year class are what I will call dumb and smart. Some people will call this conditioning not learning. Some can be caught numerous times. Some can only be caught one time or a few times during their life span. Some people have claimed that a few bass from every spawn will never bite a hook. It was speculated in the study that these elusive bass "learned" or were conditioned by watching other fish get caught.
The "dumb" ones could be classed or called overly aggressive, fast growers and willing to bite most any lure put in front of them. Studies have shown that willingness of bass to bite lures is an inherited trait. Some may not be fast growers but they are still vulnerable to recapture and they are just slow to learn about lures and the negative experience of "jaw jerking" from anglers. Some bass/fish in heavily fish water are very hard to catch no matter what lure is used. When one repeatedly uses the same lure in the same small pond it becomes hard and harder catch fish. Put on a new lure and something the fish have not seen the catch rate often increases. What does this say about those fish in the pond?
Good picture from ewest as examples of one year old LMB. I see the same size differences of yellow perch as one year olds from the same pond. It is a natural process of growth variability. This amount of size variation is due to several things. A. Food sizes availability as they grow, B. Natural genetic growth variation among members of the same hatching, C. Predation aggressiveness differences among individuals of a stocked group, D. Male vs female growth rates.
Size differences are often used as a basis for early harvest of sub-par individuals. Especially when dealing with the original stocked fish, keep the biggest ones, remove the smaller sizes. Note the most aggressive ones are likely the most frequent ones that are first caught by angling. Passive ones sometimes are not the initial size group that are caught by anglers.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/04/2507:52 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
jpsdad is correct as you should see growth that will amaze you. My property is in Tylertown, Ms. I stocked FHM and BG in early March last year (2024) and F1 Tiger bass on July 3, 2024. They were about 3/4 of an inch when I stocked them. By mid September I was catching them between 7-8 inches. This weekend (Mar 1), I caught 1 that went 12 1/2 inches and weighed 1lb1oz. So, I would think that is your bass had plenty to eat, you should easily catch some between 7-9 inches, maybe bigger. There are 2 baits that I catch the most on. A 1/8 oz "rattletrap" in silver/chrome and Strike King makes what they call a "bitsy" jerk bait, it sinks slow. Both baits I fish on ultralight tackle and you will catch bluegill on them as well (if you are feeding, those should show significant growth as well.)
For a little context, I thought you might like to know that your pond so far has set the standard for maximum average growth on a climate adjusted basis. As far as I know, climate adjusted, that is maximum average growth. FWIW, the model computes an average weight. The average weight estimated for your LMB for March 1, 2025 is 1.1 lbs (about 4% more than your sample). That is estimate of the average. It is possible you have some fish shooting that are larger. In Boondoggles samples, the variation was 20% over or under his sampled average so a 1.3 lb LMB is not out of the question (the length for such a shooter could range quite a bit but would be closing in on 14" if 100 RW or as short as 12" if closer to 160 RW). There is always variation.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
I went to the property but wasn't able to measure a baby F1. Here's what I do know however:
1.) I hooked ONE baby Tiger Bass on a mepp inline spinner. He jumped out of the water and spit the hook 2.) There are plenty of bluegill in the pond. The congregation around the feeder looks like a cloud. I did manage to land two bruisers on two casts and then left them alone. 3.) Among the cloud of bluegill, I spotted six F1 Tiger babies swimming with them. All catchable size....not sure if they're just schooling with the masses or if they're using it as a buffet line. 4.) EVERY single cast with a crappie jig (1/16 oz) solicited followers...sometimes bluegill / sometimes baby bass. They just weren't big enough to commit or when they did they didn't get the business end of the hook. 5.) I have several rock piles and brush piles around the edges...all of which held fish.
So, that's what I know and I take it as a good sign. These baby bass were stocked in October 24. My plan is to leave them alone another month and try again in April to weigh/measure one. I've got 3 really nice gravel areas for bluegill spawning so I anticipate May-September should be some heavy feeding for my bass as the bluegill provide for them.
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